


Once Upon A Dream

by Kyte_VaNa



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: AU, Businessman Victor, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Let's pretend that Sleeping Beauty can become a play, M/M, Sleeping Beauty - Freeform, Slow Burn, Some angst, Stage actor and businessman AU, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Victor being Extra, Victor spelled as 'Victor', first not-date, stage actor Yuuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:39:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9644750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyte_VaNa/pseuds/Kyte_VaNa
Summary: He can’t believe he feels this strongly for a person he has not even met formally yet. If his father has waited for three to four hours after the play to ask for his mother’s hand in marriage, Victor feels that at any moment he’ll jump out of his seat to the stage, cast Aurora aside, drop down on one knee, and ask Yuuri Katsuki to marry him right at that moment.He feels a firm grip on his forearm that has him gasping in surprise. He turns to look at his father’s concerned face. His father’s eyes seem to be searching him and then he smiles at his son before patting his head. “You at least have to wait until after the show before you jump him, Vitya. I don’t think the production staff and the people would appreciate it if you sweep the prince off his feet and ask for his hand in marriage before he finishes the play,” his father said teasing. Victor just gulps and runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know if he’s gay, Papa.” Victor says, his voice shaking.In which Victor Nikiforov is your above average salaryman and Yuuri Katsuki just made his leading male role debut as an Alternate actor for Prince Philip in the play 'Sleeping Beauty'. Victor knows he's fucked.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I watched Sleeping Beauty the other night and the song 'Once Upon a Dream' just hits me with inspiration. I've been trying to gather inspiration to write for months now and I say Thank You to Disney Classics. 
> 
> I already love my fic and I hope that I can get you to love it too. I hope you'll enjoy reading this fanfiction and if you do, please let me know :) 
> 
> I also wanted to bring out Victor's relationship with his family, especially his relationship with his father in this fic. I haven't read much fanfiction depicting his father as much as there are a lot depicting his mother. I hope you'll enjoy the family fluff and the family angst too.
> 
> Constructive criticism is welcome, also don't hesitate to point out typos or awkward word placements, this is not beta-ed.

“I know you; I walked with you once upon a dream,”

Little Victor giggles as he let his mother swing him around in some form of a dance as she sings the lyrics to their favorite song. His mother’s bright blue eyes are gleaming with joy as she looks at her son; the cassette player sings the melody to accompany his mother’s beautiful voice.

“I know you, the gleam in your eyes is all familiar a gleam,”

His mother sways them obnoxiously earning a loud laugh from the boy as they almost hit the vase containing the freshest blooms of red roses Victor has ever seen in his life.

“Yet I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem,” his mother twirled him around their living room, his long hair flowing behind him and following his moves. Victor sings along with his mother in the next few lines, he claims that those are his favorite lines from the song and so he sings as loud as he could so that his voice would come on top of his mother’s. 

“But if I know you, I’ll know what you’ll do,” the pair continues their dance into a waltz, Victor’s little feet matching the steps that his mother makes. His mother lifts him into her arms before spinning around; Victor laughed even more but managed to sing the remaining lines as his mother carries him close.

“You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream,” both mother and son finished the song as the cassette stopped playing and they break into fits of giggles, Victor holds onto his mother as she hugs him tight into her chest. The woman looks at her son who has her eyes and her smile, Victor is beaming at his mother at the little performance that they made inside their quaint home.

His mother hugs him close again before sighing out a happy breath, she nuzzles her face on her son’s head, “You’re growing up so fast Vitya,” little Victor hums and nods at the crook of her neck, he then pulls away to once again look into his mother’s eyes, “When I become a big boy I will lead Mama in our next dance!” He exclaims proudly and his mother giggles. 

Feeling the strain on her lower back and shoulders, she puts her son down. Little Victor looks up at his mother with a smile still on her face, she then pats the little boy on the head before turning to rewind the cassette tape and play the song again, Victor tugs at her dress and asks a curious question, “Mama, how did you and Papa meet?”

 His mother stops for a moment, Victor lets his hand off the dress and his mother turns around with a wide smile on her face, her eyes crinkling at the edges, fine lines showed on her face but she’s nonetheless beautiful. “Why Vitya, I thought you knew by now,” she teases and let out a small laugh as her son looks visibly confused.

“It’s just like in the song, ’Once Upon A Dream’” his mother then began to sway, rewinding of the cassette tape forgotten as she sings the song again, this time with her eyes closed and a smile so wide that Victor’s sure his mother would attract the birds and they would sing the melody of the song for her instead.

This time Victor just watches his mother dance but he sings along with much fervor as her and Victor noticed that her smile grows bigger, her steps surer as she puts on a performance for her son.

 _“I know you; I walked with you once upon a dream_  

_I know you; the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam_

_Yet I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem_  

_But if I know you, I know what you’ll do_

_You’ll love me at once_

_The way you did once upon a dream,”_

 

* * *

 

Victor opens his eyes to a dark room; he finds that he’s no longer a young boy, his hair shorter, the room colder, and his mother gone. He blinks the sleep from his eyes away before sitting up; he noticed that he’s fifteen minutes awake ahead of his alarm clock. He rubs at his face before running his hand up his hair, straightening the tangles that accumulated while he was asleep. He takes the covers off himself before swinging his feet to the floor, feeling the cold hardwood meet the soles of his feet; the sensation causes him to be more awake.

He stands up and stretches his limbs; hearing and feeling his bones crack from their slumber. He pads towards his window that is covered in his blinds; he draws them open, making sunlight suddenly bathe his otherwise dark bedroom. Once the blinds are completely drawn he turns towards his bedside table, smiling at the picture of a happy family of three.

“Good morning, Mama,”

After a few good moments of Victor staring and smiling at his family picture, he goes on and does his morning routine. He has work in an hour and a half; he’s not looking forward to sitting in his office again for eight hours, looking at forms waiting to be approved and signed, but he has to for his father and for himself plus the company pays really well, Victor can’t really be complaining.

In about forty five minutes he’s ready to go, he still has to get breakfast from the fast food joint just a few blocks from his office to start his day with lots of calories plus he can’t wait for after his shift to talk about his dream to his father and the young grumpy cashier at the fast food joint proved to be a very good listener and so Victor took his briefcase and his keys, locking his apartment before starting his walk towards the joint. 

 

“Good morning what could I get you?” the ever bored tone of Yuri never cease to amaze Victor, somehow this kid looks so jaded in life and yet he’s not even in his twenties yet.

 “Good morning Yuri! I’ll have the big breakfast platter and also large coffee, thank you!” Victor says with a smile, this did not get any reaction from the teen, he only grumbles as he punches the orders in the cashier.

When Yuri moves to put the orders in Victor’s tray the older man taps Yuri on his arm, when the teen directs a glare at him he puts his hands up and smiles “I’m only asking if you would be so kind to grace me with your listening ear, Yura,” Yuri snarls as he puts the food and coffee down rather harshly before ringing Victor’s order and taking the payment.

 “You’re lucky business is slow during the times that you come here, old fart,” Yuri says as he took off his apron and the ridiculous hat with the fast food company’s mascot printed on it. Victor always wonders how kids can find this particular mascot adorable, how can a blob of green slime with food spilling out of its mouth be adorable? Kids’ tastes are questionable.

As Yuri sits with Victor and listens while watching the older man gobble up his food Victor relayed the dream that he has been having these past few days. “It’s like an omen Yura, what do you think?”

Yuri snorts at the comment and jabs a finger on Victor’s chest, “If you think that this is your way your mother is telling you that your ‘Once Upon a Dream’ is coming at last,” Yuri made air quotes with a snarl as he rolls his eyes “Then you have the wrong person to talk to,” Yuri says, his scowl never leaving his face, “You should talk to Mila about this not me, jeez,” Victor only pouts as he shoves a mouthful of hash brown in his mouth.

“But Mila’s not so much of a good listener as you are! She’s good with advices but she always cuts me off when I’m trying to get to the point!” Yuri snorts as he crosses his arms and leans back on his chair “Look old man, I don’t give a flying fuck to this weird analysis of this dream of yours but maybe you just miss your mom and there’s no deeper meaning behind it, dipshit” Yuri says as he stands up, preparing to go to the counter again to resume work “I don’t want to spend my hours here talking to you instead of making money, you have roughly fifteen minutes left to be able to get to your own work on time,”

The teen says as he stares at the clock, he has a five hour shift in the morning because he has classes to attend to this afternoon, he really does not want to listen to Victor and his over the top analysis of his recent dreams while he could be on the cashier making money.

“You just want me out of here don’t you, Yura?” Even if Yuri is not looking at the older man, he can tell that Victor has a pout on his face and it makes his eye twitch and his teeth grind.

Yuri hears the screech of the chair that Victor pushes to stand up, he gives the teen a pat on the head and a wink to brighten his day, Yuri only makes gagging noises at him. “See you tomorrow, Yuri!!” Victor says as he goes out the door of the establishment, his chest feeling a lot lighter now that he shared his dream with someone, although Yuri was not very kind in giving out his opinion about it, Victor will just have to wait until he can visit his father in the hospital so that he can talk about it to him. Victor’s sure that his father would want to reminisce the good times he had with his wife and Victor would also like to remember all the good things his mother is.

 

He spends the next hours of his day typing away and reading through contracts and requests and then signing the ones that got his approval while he asks his secretary to put those that were not approved into the bin. It’s another mundane day in the office and Victor feels constraint; this is the only routine of his everyday life that he’s not going to get used to. Victor is used to being a free spirit, often doing what he wants when he wants without reservations but the stifling atmosphere of the office has him heaving and gasping for air one too many times. Victor can’t exactly quit this high paying job, he needs the money badly to sustain his father’s hospital stay and medicines and even though he lives alone, he doesn’t really live in a modest lifestyle in the least. 

Victor suppresses the panic attack thrumming inside him and instead focuses on the documents that still need revising and the requests that still need to be signed. He grabs for the remote of the air conditioning unit in his office and sets it into ‘High Fan’, Victor welcomes the artificial air blowing in his face as he inhales and exhales in large breaths. 

His office is not a big room, even though he is the vice-president of the company, he told his boss to only get him a room that has all the office necessities and nothing else. He’s thankful for the small space, it gets him to sort out his bearings faster and get his work done quicker. He takes another look in his room, noting that nothing is not in place; he sighs and turns his attention back to his laptop and the documents.

He can’t wait for his office hours to end, can’t wait to see his father so he won’t feel like he’s alone in the world.

  

As soon as 6PM rolls around, Victor wastes no time to clean up his workspace, shove all unread documents in his briefcase and walks out the door. He takes a big inhale of the fresh city air ( _‘It is as fresh as it’ll ever be’ Victor thought with a laugh)_ once he makes it outside the building. He exhales in a loud puff of breath that seems to startle his workmate that just exited the building; Victor pays no mind to his co-worker and immediately hails a taxi that will take him to the hospital.

When he settles inside the taxi, he tells the driver the hospital’s address and hears the engine come to life. Victor plugs the earphone to his phone before scrolling through his playlist, finding that one song that has been stuck to his head since this morning. A pleased hum escapes him as he found the classic song his whole family loves; putting the earphones in both of his ears and setting the volume of his phone to its loudest, he plays the music.

 _I know you; I walked with you Once Upon A Dream_  

The singer croons in his ear, Victor knows that she’s not as good as his mother singing the song, laments at the fact that he didn’t get to record his mother singing the piece, but this will have to do. Victor closes his eyes as memories of his childhood flashes at the back of his mind. 

_I know you; the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam_

_Yet I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem_

He sees himself once again, small and young, swaying along to his mother’s dance as she holds him at an arm’s length away. He remembers her smile, how her eyes crinkle and her fine lines would show, but she’s beautiful. Always beautiful.

_But if I know you, I know what you’ll do_

“You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream,” Victor sings, his voice low as to not disturb the driver in front of him. Victor hums the next melody, his eyes still closed, reliving the dream that he had these past few days, feel his mother’s arms secure around him, the warmth that blooms in her chest whenever he hugs her, her smile so bright that little Vitya can’t help but smile along and sway to his mother’s obnoxious dancing.

Victor lets out a chuckle as he remembers the time when he and his mother really did knock the vase off its place because of all of their dancing in their family living room.  

 

It takes five repetition of the song before he gets to the hospital and another two before he gets to his father’s private room. He stops the song and puts his phone away as he enters the room, he takes a glance at the bed, noting that his father is not on it, a slight panic rushes inside Victor but then he hears the loud flush of the toilet from the bathroom and he releases a relieved sigh. He walks into the room and settles himself on the chair that is right beside the bed.

The door to the bathroom opens and out goes his father, dragging his dextrose stand as he walks out of the bathroom. Victor is at his side not a moment after, his father looks up to him and smiles, thanking his son as he let Victor guide him back onto the bed. His father is diagnosed with terminal illness too late, any form of medication cannot delay the inevitable, but Victor tries so hard so that his father won’t feel any pain, even though he knows that just being here in this boring hospital with its boring hospital walls is painful enough. 

“It’s good to see you’re well, kid,” his father greets with a tilt in his voice, obviously teasing his son about his age. Victor clicks his tongue before shaking his head, “Papa, you know I’m,” “A twenty seven year old adult, the vice-president of a well-known company, lives alone in his fancy pansy apartment, yeah yeah,” His father counters and it makes Victor laugh. When his father finally settles on his bed he laughs along too, his eyes not quite crinkling but his smile reaches his eyes.

“You’re still that little brat that knocked off our three-thousand ruble vase,” his father chastises and Victor humors him by putting his hand on his chest and letting out a dramatic gasp, “Papa, you know that mother was the one that swung me too high,” He crosses his arms and pouts. His father laughs and pats the space on his bed; Victor obligingly sits beside his father. The older man reaches up to ruffle his son’s hair, “No matter what age you are, you’re still your Mama and I’s little Vitya,”

Victor smiles warmly at his father, enjoying the feeling of his father’s hand on his head, it makes him feel like he’s ten years old again, when he was crying and apologizing to his father about the broken vase, but the older man just hugs him and ruffles his head, telling him to be careful on dancing with Mama the next time and to show Papa their amazing performance soon. Victor and his Mama never were able to show his Papa their performance.

Victor feels the hand retract on his head and his father taps him on the shoulder a few times, “How was your day, son?” and just like that they go back to the routine. Victor tells his father about his day, how there are too many papers to read and revise, asks his father if he could do some work done while in the room and the older man nods and smiles at him.

His father tells Victor about his day, how the nurse from earlier gave him two oranges and an apple to munch on as she takes his vitals, he offers his son the other orange to which Victor took gladly, telling him that he hasn’t eaten for the past five hours and a fruit is a start-up that he needs. The older man told his son how the doctor was amazed by how stable his vitals are and that he can now take a visit for a few hours outside the hospital just as long as a waiver is signed.

Victor smiles gladly at the news telling his father that he found a good restaurant not far from the hospital and promises his father to take him there sometimes in the future; the older man nodded and pats his son’s head.

They became quiet soon after, Victor turns the TV on for his father to watch the news, while he settles on the chair and began reading some of his paperwork; this is also routine for them. His father knows how hectic his schedule is, sometimes Sundays are not even a day off for Victor, and so the older Nikiforov lets his son work, watching him from his peripherals as to not disturb his son.

Victor is not even reading the papers in his hands, he’s still thinking about the dream that he had. With a sigh he put the papers back into his briefcase and turns his attention towards his father, he’s not surprised that the older man is already looking at him with a small smile on his face.

“I dreamt about Mama,” Victor says solemnly. His father hums as if in thought, “What was the dream about, son?”

He tells his dad about his dream, no doubt now that their favorite song plays in the backs of their minds as memories of the wonderful woman they had the honor of calling a wife and a mother resurfaced.

“That is a wonderful dream, Vitya” his father says in an almost melancholic tone, but the underlying softness and fondness never leaves. “It is,” Victor agrees easily and the pair became quiet again, remembering their own memories of the woman they both loved so dearly. 

“Papa?” Victor breaks the silence and his father makes a noncommittal noise, it’s obvious that his father is still deep in memory lane but he needs an answer to his next question as soon as possible and so without missing a beat he turns to look at his father again, “How did you and Mama meet?"

This earns his father’s attention as the old man looks at him with curious eyes, “Don’t you already know, Vitya?”

It’s true that he knows, his parents basically tell him their story when he wants bedtime stories during his younger years, Victor smiles at the memory but he shrugs at his father’s inquiry, “I forgot,” Victor simply said.

The older man let out a haughty laughter, “You do tend to forget stuff easily don’t you, Vitya?” Victor nods, not denying the fact that would otherwise fluster him if others said it to him.  

A warm smile appears on his father’s face as he sighs, “I guess I have no choice, don’t I?” he chuckled once more before shuffling on his bed to sit up, Victor helps his father get comfortable before settling down on his chair again, his father starts the story, but he’s not looking at his son, he seems to be deep in his memory and Victor smiles at the peaceful expression his father is making.

“I was a regular salary man in St. Petersburg back in the day. My colleagues urged me to see a local play with them, ‘The Sleeping Beauty’. It was a musical, but I’m not a big fan of those things so I turned my friends down, but they were very persuasive.” He laughs as flashes of his friends’ faces appeared before his eyes; he looks at his son and finds him listening attentively to his little story.

“In the end I went with them. We didn’t even get good seats, because we could only spend so much of our income for a play, I could almost see nothing save for the heads of the people in front of us, but it was the best day of my life. Of course, because that is the day I met your mother,” He laughs once again, he remembers an inside joke between his wife and him, he takes a look at his son and Victor is still not budging, his eyes fixed on his father’s face.

“I didn’t pay attention for the first half of the play, but then I saw her; the actress for the older Aurora or Briar Rose. My eyes were fixed on her face as she moves; she was nothing short of beautiful. Bright blue eyes, her heart shaped smile, you got those traits from her Vitya, I could never be more thankful for your mother,” at this Victor let out a chuckle. It’s true that he looks more like his mother but he acts as compulsively as his father.

“Her acting was flawless and I soon found out from the brochure that they gave us from the entrance that that play was her debut lead performance and I could never be more amazed. She’s a woman so perfect for the stage and yet that is her only debut lead performance,” He can hear the awe in his father’s voice.

“And then she started _singing_ , Vitya you know how beautiful your mother’s voice is, but in the stage it was powerful and beautiful and I just gaped and stared at her throughout her performance of ‘Once Upon a Dream’. I don’t peg myself as the jealous type of person, but when Prince Philip came into the picture, I can feel my blood boil,” His father laughs heartily, “Imagine that, a guy in his thirties getting jealous of a stage actor because he’s playing his part. I’m kind of pathetic like that. You got that from me,” Victor laughs. He should be insulted but this is his father and his father knows that they’re very much related because of their matching personalities.

“Imagine my jealousy when it was time for Prince Philip to wake Aurora up with a true love’s kiss, your mother later confirmed when we’re married that they didn’t really kiss but that Prince Philip moved in a way that makes it seem like they did. I can feel the relief wash over me back then and she just laughed at me, told me that I was so obvious.” Victor could definitely see that scene unfold in his eyes and he chuckles at how ridiculous his father must have looked.

“Anyways, the play ended too soon and my colleagues and the other people in the theater all began to go out, but I can’t move from my place, ‘I want to see her again’ I thought. I walked out the theater and told my colleagues to go on ahead of me and that I have a business to attend to. I was hoping that she would come out of the theater if I wait long enough. I believe I waited for about three or four hours before I heard the door open and out she goes. She doesn’t look like Briar Rose anymore but she is still the beautiful lady that captured my heart. When I saw that she was alone, I took my chance; don’t look at me like that Vitya, you know I have terrible impulse control.” Victor chuckled and he nods.

“You won’t believe what I did that first meeting. I grabbed both of her hands and asked her to marry me! Who does that? Me apparently. Remember to control yourself around people, Vitya,” His father warns but Victor can hear the playfulness in his voice and he can’t help but snort.

“The next thing that happened is more ridiculous. She asked me if we’ve met before and you know what I told her? ‘Well of course. You said so yourself, once upon a dream’ and it was Prince Philip’s line in the play before he sings and I can tell you that your mother was not impressed and then the rest is history,” His father finishes with a lilt in his voice. His smile reaches his eyes as he looks at his son who was also smiling.

“It’s a beautiful story, Papa,” Victor simply says and his father nods and hums, agreeing with his son. The older man looks out the window where he could see the American city lights, his smile never leaving his face.

“I just wish I could see that play again. It would be different from all those years ago, but seeing it, I know it would bring me peace.” His father says it like it is his last wish and Victor feels his heart clench, “You know I’d take you to the play and buy us the best seats in the house if it shows here,” Victor says and his father hums, disbelieving. The play is decades old and newer ones are getting on the stage more often than not, the older Nikiforov does not get his hopes up.

The two men became quiet again, Victor looks at the clock and finds out that visiting hours are almost over and it will be his time to leave. He let his father look back at the past once more and did not disturb the peaceful silence between them. He gathers his things before moving to turn the TV off; however, the news flash caught his attention. The TV volume is low so he doubt his father could hear, but Victor can see the news tag at the bottom of the TV screen,

_‘The remake of the play ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ will be hitting the theaters in the next few weeks, a world tour is to happen and the team’s first stop is America. See the list of places they plan on performing and the schedules:’_

Victor saw the city they’re in immediately. His eyes widen as he turns to his father so fast it caught the attention of the older man, “What is it son?” He asks. “They’re going to be performing the remake of the play in the theater next week, what do you say we go, Papa?” He can tell his father is shocked, with his wide eyes and his open mouth, his father nods enthusiastically, “Yes, of course I would like to go,” Victor smiles as he gathers up his things in a hurry, “I’ll have to request a waiver as soon as possible, I also need to buy tickets early for us to get the best seats,” Victor leans down and gives his father a kiss on the forehead before he’s bolting out of the door  to search for his father’s doctor and request a waiver immediately.

He wants to grant at least one of his father’s wishes to make up for the lost time that they did not get to spend together. His father wishes for a variety of things, often small like asking Victor to supply him his favorite brand of candy whenever he visits, but some things Victor just couldn’t give, like a wife and children of his own.

Victor came out to his father five years after his mother’s death. He was seventeen and he feels wrong whenever he gets to date girls and kiss them goodnight when the day is over, he never got to take a girl to a second date, he always claims that he feels like they’re not the one for him but a mock dare to kiss his best friend happens one afternoon when Victor and his friends were fooling around his backyard. They did the kiss and Victor felt different. He did not tell his friends but he knows then why he couldn’t get to like girls. He doesn’t like girls that way in the slightest.

He comes out to his best friend first and his friend didn’t take it lightly. To say that they fought was an understatement. Victor goes home that day with an ugly bruise across his chin. His father rushes to him immediately, bombarding him with questions. Victor doesn’t answer any of his questions and opts to just tell his father and get it over with, “I’m gay,” he says simply. His father became quiet, his questions ceases coming but his father still took care of the bruise and cooks a meal for Victor however,  he doesn’t talk to his son at all during the remainder of that day.

The next day Victor wakes up to the smell of waffles he so dearly love. With careful steps he goes to the kitchen and watches his father cook, his father immediately notices him. Victor flinches and makes a move as if he plans on running away. His father put the spatula down before rushing towards his son and gives him a tight hug, “Remember that I’ll always love you and I’ll always be here for you, Vitya,” Victor clings to his father and cries upon hearing the words. His father and he spend that day eating more waffles than is considered healthy and Victor could confidently say that his father is the best in the entire world.

Victor quickly signs a waiver and passes it down to a nurse to give to his father’s doctor before he’s rushing to hail a cab to go to the nearest theater to immediately buy him and his father tickets for the play. Once in the theater he asks the counter to give him the best seats available for two for the play, the woman on the other side of the desk looks at him funny before ringing in his order. Victor does not think that theater tickets were this expensive but he’ll do anything for his father and so he takes out his card and pays for the two tickets for opening night. He thanks the cashier with a blinding smile and goes home, feeling himself be giddy. The announcement of the play seems to be related to his dream, he does not know how or why the thinks that, but he just knows something will happen to change his life.

He goes back to his apartment without any trouble and instead of the routine of looking at the cold and dark space, wishing he has someone to help brighten it up, he can’t help the smile the creeps up his face as he stares at the tickets in his hand. He carefully puts the tickets in his wallet and tucking it in his briefcase. He goes back on routine; he eats some cereal and takes a bath before plopping down on his bed.

Victor stares at his ceiling wishing that next week would come soon. He closes his eyes and let the exhaustion of the day get to him. He does not dream of his mother and him anymore, instead he dreams of the what ifs that will happen in a week, of experiencing love so intense he’d want to ask that person to immediately marry him. He dreams about Prince Philip and not Aurora. He dreams of the many different ways Prince Philip would sing the song. He dreams of being swept off his feet. He dreams of his own happy ending.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the night of the play and Victor didn't think that it's possible to switch from one intense emotion to another so fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where Victor first sees Yuuri and their first unofficial meeting!! I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> I recommend listening to the 1959 soundtracks of Sleeping Beauty before reading or during reading this chapter :) 
> 
> Also, I can't believe I transcribed the first half of the movie and made it into a feasible play...

The remaining days pass by quickly and for that Victor is thankful. No new events interrupted his mundane routine and so he anticipates much more, about the play, about his father’s happiness. The doctor signs the waiver a day after Victor gives it to the nurse and he’s grateful for the fast response, “Of course, Mr. Nikiforov. We can tell that your father is very bored out of his mind, a theater play might just do the trick,” the doctor says kindly to him one evening.

Before both father and son know it, it’s already the day that the play will open to the public. Victor picks his father up from the hospital at around noon, Victor making do of his promise to treat his dad to the nearby restaurant that he frequents. His father can walk fine without the aid of a walking stick, albeit Victor would need to slower his pace a notch.  

They eat lunch quietly, only opting for small talk; both men are equally excited for the upcoming play. To be honest Victor cannot find a time to fit in his schedule recreational activities such as watching a play and so he hasn’t been into one until after seeing the one later this night, he’ll make sure to enjoy the play to its full potential.

“You are right son, the food here is delicious,” His father hums and takes a fork full of pasta into his mouth. Victor swallows his own mouthful of food before nodding happily; he’s glad that his father likes the place and the food that it offers. “I discovered this by chance when I was really hungry on the way to the hospital. For a restaurant, the prices of the food here is cheap.”

 His father chuckles at him, Victor is startled by the sudden reaction and looks up to see his father, Victor still has a piece of pasta dangling from his lips and so he slurps it up before chewing the huge mouthful, “Careful Vitya, we can’t have you choking with those huge servings of food inside your mouth. Remember to chew thoroughly,” Victor nods as he grabs for the napkin and wipes his mouth with it, capturing the sauce that smears on his lips.

“You got your love of food from your mother,” His father exclaims happily, eating another bite of pasta himself. “Mama makes the heartiest meals I’ve ever had; it’s hard not liking food when she’s the cook,” Victor chuckles and his father nods. They once again eat in silence, only the sounds of the cutleries clinking onto the glass plates can be heard between the two but prominent smiles grace their lips.

Once the pair is done with their food, Victor asks for the bill and they head out; cold spring air brushes past them ruffling their clothes and hair.  “Do you want to go anywhere, Papa?” Victor asks his father.

The older man hums and thinks, Victor patiently waits “I’m sort of tired but I don’t want to go back to the hospital. We have a good few hours left before the showing begins, I want to see where my son lives and if you’re really well off by yourself,” His father finally says which earns a chuckle from Victor. The younger man knows that it’s not about the money; he can live grandiosely if it’s just about the money but his father knows he can’t do house chores that well or cook to save his life.

“Well, I have a comfortable bed. That’s the only thing I need most in life right now,” Victor got a playful tap on his shoulder as his father grins at him, “What are we waiting for then? My feet are killing me and I want to try that mattress of yours. Hopefully it would be better than the ones in the hospital,”

 

After looking through his son’s various cupboards (“Vitya you have nothing here.” “Vitya you should keep stock of simple things like eggs and not just fill your fridge with cans of beer.” “Vitya these canned goods are expired you should throw them out.”) Victor leads his father towards his room so the older man can finally take his much needed rest.

“You better wake me up on time. I want to be the first person on the venue,” Victor nods as he pulls the covers up his father’s chin, “Of course.  I also want to be the first person there. I’m excited as you are for this play. Somehow I can feel something great is about to happen,” Victor says wistfully.

“Whatever it is Vitya, remember to not jump the first handsome guy you see included in the play. Wait until after the play, preferably you should wait for three or more hours outside the theater for good measure,” His father jokes and Victor laughs along. “I’ll wake you up at six so we could be at the venue by seven thirty” Victor says as he looks at the digital clock besides his bed. His father nods before closing his eyes and taking his rest.

Victor quietly goes around his room to close the blinds and turn off the lights before heading out towards the living room. He opts to read some papers and get some work done while waiting. He can’t wait for the things that will transpire in the night for him. Victor can’t shake the feeling of something magnetic drawing him towards that play and he could only hope it means something good.

 

Victor manages to read five documents and revise three of them before it is time to go to the theater. He wakes his father up and both prepares themselves to leave, his father says things in his mental list to Victor so that they know that they’re not missing anything important.

“Umbrella?”

“Check.”

“Binoculars?”

“Papa we’re going to be near the stage, we won’t really need it but check.”

“Of course, tickets?”

“Check!”

“Well that’s about it.”

The excited men hurriedly goes outside of the apartment, Victor makes sure that the doors are locked before heading down the main entrance of the complex. He let his father sit inside the lounge where it’s warm while he hails a taxi outside. Victor manages to get one quickly and both father and son wastes no time into getting into the taxi. Victor tells the driver the theater and off they go.

When they arrive at the theater there are already a few people loitering around, some in their best suits, some just casual. There really is no dress code for the theater but Victor and his father made sure to don semi-formal outfits. Victor tells the staff how his father is a senior and would want to already sit inside the theater. The staff grants them permission and got their tickets before leading them inside the theater and into their seats.

Victor’s father commends Victor’s choice of seats, “This must worth a lot. Are you sure you didn’t spend a lot for this, son? You know I can handle watching from the back; the seats back there are cheaper.” Victor shakes his head and gives his father a smile, “Don’t worry Papa, this doesn’t worth that much.”

A staff approaches them and gives them brochures as an actor and production guide for the play. The men busies themselves into looking at the brochure, Victor finds himself immediately flipping through the page that contains Prince Philip’s actor’s information.

_Jean-Jacques Leroy (as Prince Philip)_

The guy is definitely an eye candy but somehow Victor feels disappointed. Jean-Jacques has nice eyebrows, a big smile that could probably ensnare every person in the theater, sun-kissed skin that looks rough but pleasant to the touch; Victor certainly feels attracted to the guy but it doesn’t feel enough. With a sigh Victor closes the brochure and opts to check his e-mails in his phone instead.

“Didn’t find any pretty young lads, son?” His father teases by his side and Victor can’t help but chuckle. “I’m not here to do what you did, Papa,” Victor says jokingly without looking away from his phone, he hears his father laugh beside him, “Of course, of course.”

“The woman playing Aurora is very beautiful,” Victor thinks aloud, remembering the glimpse that he took at the actress’ page. His father hums “Can’t compete with your mother, though,” and Victor has to agree. Victor’s memories of his mother is blurred by this point in his life; fifteen years without her and Victor sometimes find that he can’t remember how his mother really smiles, it’s just that he knows that she’s beautiful when she does.

People start filing after a few minutes and soon the theater is filled to the brim, hushed chatters make for a welcome noise for Victor. He sees his father smile from the corner of his eyes, “It’s nice to see that despite this being an old piece, a lot of people appreciate it,” and Victor has to nod. This will be his first time seeing the play and his first time in a theater.

He never went as a child because his family never saw a reason to when they had a very beautiful singer-actress in their home. Even after his mother’s death, his father and he never went. He knows that his father feels pain even at a slight mention of a theater or a play and because of that Victor never asked his father to take him to one and he never let himself be casted in school plays, rather he became the props man or the stage director.

Child-like excitement begins to bubble inside of him, his disappointment with Prince Philip’s actor fading away. He promised himself to enjoy the play to the fullest and that’s what he’s planning on doing.

An actor goes out from the curtain and introduced himself also while giving out a talk to the audience to energize the people. Victor laughs at the actor’s jokes in relation to the play.

“Ah, it’s glad to see a mix of young ones and old folks in the audience!” The actor says and the audience claps. “Though I got to say sorry to the old folks who were witness to previous and older versions of the play. We revised some parts but it stayed the same otherwise. Of course the nostalgic music is also present!” Victor soon discovers that the actor in front would be playing King Stefan. He’s a jolly folk and Victor can’t help but make a comparison between his dad and the actor, laughing while he did so.

His father is quiet beside him but Victor sees the hint of a smile on his dad’s lips and Victor is glad he took the seats that they are sitting in.

Soon the actor finishes his speech and reminders to the people in the theater, “We will begin in about five minutes so make yourselves comfortable. I hope you folks enjoy our team’s rendition of the play!” and with that, the actor slips back into the curtains. The lights overhead then began to dim. Victor squirms in his seat for a bit to make himself more comfortable. 

The narrator’s voice booms from the speakers around the theater. The curtains are still drawn and Victor still could not see anything in front. He listens to the beginning of the tale.

“In a faraway land long ago lived a King and his fair Queen. Many years had they longed for a child and finally their wish was granted.”

The curtains draw up. In the stage shows King Stefan with his Queen holding a bundle of cloth, signifying the birth of Princess Aurora.

“Then a great holiday was proclaimed throughout the kingdom so that all of high or low estate might pay homage to the infant princess.  And our story begins on that Most Joyful day,”

When the narrator stopped, singing could be heard and joyful music fills the room. The stage is then filled with the cast dancing in beautiful medieval clothes. Beautiful voices accompany one another as the scene goes on. King Stefan and his Queen sway around the stage showing the Princess off in the most obnoxious way. The King and Queen then go to center stage, the other people dancing joyously around them,

“Hail to the King. Hail to the Queen. Hail to the Princess Aurora,”

“Hail to the Princess. Hail to the Princess. Long live the Princess Aurora,”

“Hail to the King. Hail to the Queen. Hail to the Princess Aurora,”

As they sing the last note and strike their final pose, the King and Queen place the Princess in a manger and then proceeds to sit on their thrones. Victor smiles throughout the scene, he thinks that it must be fun singing and dancing like that while in front of an audience, the cast all have big smiles on their faces. It must be because their director said so, but Victor can feel their happiness radiating from them to his seat.

The trumpets blow and the sound of heavy doors opening fills the theater. King Stefan stands up from his throne with a gleeful smile as he greets the newcomer.

“The Royal Highnesses; King Hubert and Prince Philip!”

The Herald announces and in comes a small but round old man with a young Prince in tow. Victor notes how the little Prince cannot possibly grow up to look like that actor Jean-Jacques Leroy but of course he’s just one of the many audiences, what does he know?

King Stefan and King Hubert hug each other upon meeting and then laugh haughtily after. King Hubert then ushers his son to see the Princess in the manger. Prince Philip holds a gift that he presents to the Queen before proceeding to the manger. The little kid makes funny faces upon peeking inside the manger. Victor and a few other audience members laugh at the scene.

The trumpets once again belt out and the Harold announces the arrival of the Three Good Fairies. Spotlight and Smoke machines come to work to conceal the entrance of the fairies, making it seem like they come from thin air. The three fairies approach the royal family with smiles on their faces. With a simple nod to the monarchs, the fairies make a beeline to the Princess, gushing at how beautiful and precious she is.

“Each of us the child may bless a single gift. No more, no less.”

The red fairy, Fauna, announces. Victor watches as each fairy bestows her gift to the Princess; Fauna with the gift of beauty, Flora with the gift of song. The cast breaks into a short ballad after every gift has been given. Victor relishes in hearing the beautiful voices and wonders _‘how did such talented people come together and make such a beautiful piece?’_

Then even before Merryweather casts her gift, loud bass and the sound of thunder erupts in the theater. Menacing green light and smoke comes into the stage and the cast makes distressed sounds as they move to the sides. When the smoke clears and the lights return to normal, in the center stage reveals a figure clad in black, holding a staff, and on her head is a pair of horns. Victor feels chills run down his spine just by looking at the actress’ face. Even if she hasn’t even said anything, Victor knows that she’s going to be a perfect villain.

“Why, it’s Maleficent,”

“What does she want here?”

“Shhh,”

The fairies murmur among themselves as Maleficent draws closer to the monarchs, a cold smile on her face.

“Well, quite a glittering assembly, King Stefan,” Maleficent starts, her tone cold but lilting. She looks around the stage to the people around her. “Royalty, Nobility, the Gentry,” She nods to the people belonging to the classes she mentioned but all the cast just has a terrified look on their faces. Maleficent then looks at the three fairies and laughs, “How quite, even the rabble.” At this, the fairies and Maleficent has a heated argument before King Stefan steps in and tells the dark clad fairy that she is not wanted in the celebration. Victor grips the armrests of his seat as he sees the face of Maleficent contort into something ugly.

“I too shall bestow a gift on the child,” Maleficent says this gently, almost caring, but the fairies immediately rush to the child’s manger in an attempt to protect the little Princess. This did not stop Maleficent however. Her eyes harden and Victor gulps, he doesn’t know the original story of Sleeping Beauty but he knows this will be quite ugly.

“Listen well, all of you,” Maleficent starts before she stomps her staff on the floor rather harshly. Maleficent smiles at the monarchs “The Princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty; beloved by all who know her,” her smile drops as she points an accusing finger at the King and Queen, “But,” she then motions on the ball resting on her staff, filling it with magic. “Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.”

Victor gasps along with the cast members on stage. He really commends Maleficent’s actress’ amazing portrayal of the villain. He sees the cast on stage panic; the Queen immediately scoops her daughter up to her chest as if to protect her, the three fairies move so that they’re in front of the Queen, King Stefan demanded Maleficent to leave at that instant. With a final laugh, green light and smoke covers the stage again and once it clears Maleficent is nowhere to be found.

The King and Queen look despaired at what their daughter will come to face but Flora and Fauna presents Merryweather to the monarchs.

“Merryweather still has her gift to give,”

“Then, she can undo this fearful curse?” King Stefan asked hopefully. “Oh no, sire,” Merryweather says dejectedly. “Maleficent’s power is far too great,” Flora supplies. Fauna ushered Merryweather to the couple “But she can help,” she says.

Victor let out a breath at the good news that the blue fairy can still help the poor Princess.

Merryweather goes to the manger and looks at the child. She swings her wand around and began chanting her gift. “Sweet Princess, if through this wicked witch’s trick, a spindle should your finger prick, a ray of hope there still may be in this. This gift I give to thee. Not in death but just in sleep, the fateful prophecy you’ll keep. And from slumber you shall wake, when true love’s kiss the spell shall break.”

The cast sings in a melancholic tone following Merryweather’s gift. The lights in the stage dims and only a single spotlight focusing on the monarchs and the fairies remain. There are a few moments of silence before the spotlight turns off, the theater now in complete blackness. The narrator’s voice booms from the speaker again. “But King Stefan, still fearful of his daughter’s life did then and there decree that every spinning wheel on the kingdom should on that very day be burned, so it was done.”

The lights abruptly turn back on, which made Victor squints his eyes for a bit, adjusting to the sudden brightness. On the stage are just the three good fairies, they’re discussing of ways on how they could help the King and Queen so that the Princess would be safe and that Maleficent wouldn’t be able to find her. As they go back and forth with suggestions, Flora finally came to a conclusion which she shares with the other two fairies.

“The three peasant women, raising a foundling child, deep in the forest,” Flora said proudly. “Do you really think we can?” The other two inquires but Flora just smiles, “If humans can do it, so can we.”

The three fairies make an exit and the lights turn off again. Victor settles deep into the cushion of his seat, letting out a sigh. “What are you thinking son?” His father asks beside him, “I’m just scared for the Princess. I didn’t know a fairytale can be this dark,” Victor huffs out causing his father to chuckle.

The older man does not reply to him anymore for the lights turn on again, this time the stage is draped in cloths of black, the soft green light scatters all around the stage, the cast on the stage are all wearing black with hideous make-up on their faces. On the highly elevated part of the stage sits a sinister throne, out comes the back stage Maleficent, her head held high as she struts to her throne, her eyes sporting an icy glare towards her subjects.

Victor watches Maleficent berate her goons for being stupid and he can’t help but laugh, but then the sound of thunder erupts from the speaker and he’s left sucking his breath in again as the cast all but runs away from Maleficent’s wrath.

“My pet, you are my last hope. Circle far and wide, search for a maid of sixteen with hair of sunshine gold and with lips as red as a rose. Go and do not fail.” Maleficent orders the raven sitting on her shoulder.

 It flies towards the audience low enough to get gasps from the people from the very front, but the bird flies higher, disappearing in the shadows. Victor thinks that the bird is trained and is now in the hands of its trainer, he applauds the team in his mind for that.

The theater darkens again and Victor feels his father’s hand tap his own, he turns to look at the older man, “The song will come on soon. Are you excited?” Victor can’t help but smile at his father and nods, “Are we allowed to sing along?” He asks hopeful. The older man laughs as he shakes his head, “No son, I don’t think so. It might distract the actors on stage.” Victor nods and bows his head down sadly. His father patted his head before turning to pay attention to the stage again.

Soon the lights turn on and this time on the stage is the three fairies in their peasant clothing cleaning and sweeping across the stage. Aurora then comes on the stage, twirling and singing as she sweeps the floor. She twirls and sways across the stage until she exits on the other side of it. The three good fairies all stop to look at her exit before huddling together.

The three good fairies are discussing about the celebration for their dear Briar Rose’s sixteenth birthday in hushed whispers.

“But how are we going to get her out of the house?”

“I’ll think of something,” and then they giggle, not knowing that Briar Rose is now right behind them, “Well, and what are you three dears up to?” Rose asks with a playful smile. The fairies back away with nervous smiles on their faces, “Up to?” they chorus. They stutter as they find an excuse and Victor can’t help the fond smile on his face. The fairies really care for Aurora is what he thinks and he’s touched by their efforts to throw the girl a birthday party.

“We want you to pick some berries,”

“Berries? But I picked berries yesterday,” Flora gives Rose a basket and drapes on her her blueberry colored scarf.

“Oh, we need more dear.” The three fairies ushers Rose out to the left exit of the stage. “Now don’t hurry back,” Flora reminds “And don’t go too far,” Merryweather adds “And don’t talk to strangers!” Fauna finishes. They all say their goodbyes after before hurrying to the center of the stage.

The fairies immediately get to work on the surprise: Fauna with the cake, Flora with the dress, and Merryweather as the mannequin. The problem is they can’t use their magic and are visibly struggling on their own but they pay no mind and continue their work.

Victor watches amusedly at the three fairies. They want to preserve Aurora’s safety by not using their magic but they’re also making their home into a disaster. Victor welcomes the lighthearted scenario with all his heart after all those intense scenes with Maleficent.

Then out of nowhere Merryweather starts crying. “Whatever’s the matter, dear?” Fauna asks. “After today she’ll be a Princess and we won’t have any Briar Rose,” Merryweather whines. The other two fairies seem struck with the realization and they both tear up too. Victor feels his eyes gloss over, no doubt that tears too are threatening to fall from his eyes.

The fairies soon resume their sewing and cooking and the lights dim to nothingness. Victor is still drying his eyes when the light comes on again and this time it’s just Aurora on stage. Victor knows this scene, has seen his Mom act it for him and his father countless of times, he also knows that Prince Philip would come soon.

Background sounds of a forest come from the speakers and Aurora walks on stage mindlessly, walking from corner to corner singing in a high voice. Her voice is definitely beautiful, Victor thought. “Your mother was better,” he heard his father whisper besides him and he has to chuckle. Victor chooses not to reply to his father and instead focus on Aurora’s heavenly singing as she walks around, the chirping of birds following her.

Aurora settles to sit on an elevated platform on the stage at the corner as she continues on singing. She then began to hum the beginning of a song Victor also knows well. It’s not Once Upon a Dream yet, but Victor also enjoys this song whenever his mother would sing it to him as a lullaby.

“I wonder, I wonder, I wonder why each little bird has a someone

To sing to sweet things to

A gay little love bird melody?”

The background sounds of birds chirping become louder and the actress acts as if the birds are around her. She smiles at the space around her as she gracefully lifts her arm as if reaching out to the birds.

“I wonder, I wonder, if my heart keep singing

Will my song go winging

To someone who’ll find me

And bring back a love song to me?”

Aurora then stands up swinging the basket in her hands as she looks down on her feet, a small smile on her face, she kicks an imaginary stone out of her way as she sighs “Why do they still treat me like a child?” She continues to walk to the exit but the sound of an owl stops her. She looks in front of her; Victor thinks that this means that the owl is in front of her.

Aurora began to shrug as she turns the other way, “Aunt Flora, Aunt Fauna, and Merryweather,” going back to the elevated platform, she sits there again and cradles the basket in her arms. “They never want me to meet anyone,” She looks above her as if talking to the birds.

 The birds make sad little noises and Aurora chuckles, “But you know something?” She teases and excited chirping fills the theater. “I do. I have met someone,” She said as she stands up to twirl. An inquiring sound from the owl has her turning her attention to the audience, “Oh, a Prince.” Victor sucks in a breath. He knows he doesn’t like the actor that plays the Prince much but he can’t help but hope that Jean-Jacques would not be what he thinks he’ll be.

The chirping becomes louder and Aurora moves to center stage, “Well he’s tall and handsome,” she lifts her arm as if to scale how tall the Prince in her dream is like. “And so romantic,” she ends in a wistful tone. Her eyes look love struck as the chirping continues.

“Oh, we walk together and talk together,” She starts walking at a slower pace and looks up above her, remembering her dream with the Prince. She twirls a couple of times before looking at the audience, a warm smile on her face, “And just before we say goodbye,” she hugs herself as she walks forwards to the edge of the stage, “He takes me into his arms,” The chirping now has an excited lilt to it.

 Aurora looks up, a dreamy expression adorns her face, before it falls into a frown, “And then I wake up,” the birds makes dejected noises as Aurora slides down on the floor to sit, “Yes, it’s only in my dreams,” She once again looks at the audience, a big hopeful smile on her face, “But they say if you dream more than once, it’s sure to come true.”

She closes her eyes and brings her hands to her chest, “And I’ve seen him so many times,” Aurora began humming and Victor holds his breath. It’s coming. It’s time for his family’s song. He can feel the tell-tale tears in his eyes. A figure clad in a full black body suit with a red cape and maroon hat comes into the stage. It’s supposed to be the mysterious act of the birds, Victor thinks. Aurora stands up from the floor and giggles at the sight.

The sound of a pleased owl resounds in the theater, “Why, it’s my dream Prince,” she giggles once again, bowing at the figure, a playful smile on her face “Your Highness.” She hums as she sways closer to the figure, “You know, I’m not supposed to speak to strangers,” the figure took her hand in his and they began a slow waltz. “But we’ve met before,” Aurora said, chiding. The music began and the theater is filled with the angelic voice of the actress.

“I know you; I walked with you once upon a dream” She sings as she twirls away from the figure before twirling back towards him again, she takes the lead and sways them both from side to side.

“I know you; the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam,” she drops the figure’s hands as she dances alone, her eyes closes and then at the side Victor could see another figure near the entrance to the backstage, he can’t see well but he’s sure that that’s the Prince, that it must be Jean-Jacques.  But then the Prince goes out where the light would hit his face and _‘Oh’_ Victor thinks.

 _‘Oh… He’s not… He’s not Jean-Jacques’_ Victor thinks dumbly as he swallows audibly, he faintly registers his father asking him if he is alright but he can’t even manage a nod. Not when the Prince is not actually Jean-Jacques, not when Victor could see just how awfully _handsome_ the actor is.

His dark hair is slicked back in contrast to Jean-Jacques undercut, his eyebrows are well trimmed unlike Jean-Jacques bushy ones, his skin is fair and looks soft to the touch not like Jean-Jacques tanned skin, and his brown eyes portray a massive amount of emotions unlike Jean-Jacque’s  gray where Victor could only see pride.

Victor swallows again as he can feel the collar of his pressed shirt constrict his air supply. He unbuttons the top button as the actor moves with sure motions into the stage. His eyes portray wonder at seeing the girl swaying and hearing her sing from the other end of the stage and if Victor’s father felt jealous of the kiss, Victor feels jealousy bubbling inside him just because the actor is _looking at Aurora with such love and adoration in his eyes._

Victor could only wish those eyes and that look is directed at him and only him. Victor remembers the brochure sitting in his lap and he gasps rather loudly, causing other patrons to shush him as he flips through the brochure hurriedly.

 _‘I’m an idiot!’_ he thinks, because just after Jean-Jacques’ page in the brochure Victor sees the picture and the name of the beautiful prince on stage.

_Yuuri Katsuki (Alternating as Prince Philip)_

Victor sucks in a breath. Even in the creative shot of the actor’s profile, Yuuri Katsuki looks so handsome. Victor barely registers the next scenes on the stage but then he hears Yuuri sing his part. Victor has never before turn his attention back to the stage as fast as that moment. He thinks that he stops breathing altogether.

Yuuri’s voice is _heavenly_ , to say the least. It’s smooth and rich, just the right amount of deepness that can make anybody swoon and Victor is swooning alright. He grips at his chest as the pair dance begins; his heart is thrumming in his chest at how the actor manages to be both so beautiful and handsome at the same time. Yuuri’s eyes hold the softest adoration for Aurora and Victor can’t help the liquid jealousy brewing in him.

The song temporarily stops as Aurora questions the Prince if they know each other, “But don’t you remember?” Victor can feel the sweat gather on his forehead. “We’ve met before,” Prince Philip continues in a smooth voice and Victor can feel his hands become clammy while he’s gripping the armrest “But of course. You said so yourself, once upon a dream.”

He says it so _perfectly_ and _flawlessly_ Victor has to make sure his brain is not making this up. The way Prince Philip delivers the line was downright naughty but the playfulness masks it perfectly as an innocent remark. Yuuri sings again and Victor can’t fathom how before the song starts he wants to sing along. He can’t and won’t sing along if that means not being able to hear Yuuri’s majestic voice properly.

He can’t believe he feels this strongly for a person he has not even met formally yet. If his father has waited for three to four hours after the play to ask for his mother’s hand in marriage, Victor feels that at any moment he’ll jump out of his seat to the stage, cast Aurora aside, drop down on one knee, and ask Yuuri Katsuki to marry him _right at that moment._

He feels a firm grip on his forearm that has him gasping in surprise. He turns to look at his father’s concerned face. His father’s eyes seem to be searching him and then he smiles at his son before patting his head. “You at least have to wait until after the show before you jump him, Vitya. I don’t think the production staff and the people would appreciate it if you sweep the prince off his feet and ask for his hand in marriage before he finishes the play,” his father says teasing. Victor just gulps and runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know if he’s gay, Papa.” Victor says, his voice shaking.

Victor’s father hums and pats his son’s head one last time before turning his attention back to the play. Victor does too, or at least he tries. It’s hard going back to paying attention to the story now that he knows the Prince. He vaguely registers the scenes not involving Yuuri and whenever Yuuri is on, Victor will only pay attention to him; from his dialogues to the little details like how he would swipe his lower lip with his tongue every now and then.

Victor realized a little too late that the audience is given a fifteen minute break before the last act begins. He settles back on his chair, slumping a bit before exhaling a loud sigh. He hears his father laugh loudly at him “It seems like you got it bad, son.” Victor smiles shakily as he closes his eyes. Oh he has it bad alright, he thinks.

“How did you manage to deal with these strong feelings, Papa? I don’t think my heart can take it if I can’t meet him at least once after the show ends.” Victor whines as he brings his hands to his face and groans. His father gives him a comforting pat on his shoulder. Victor removes his hands from his face and sees that his father has his apologetic smile on, “I seriously don’t know how I managed to deal with it, son. I just acted on my feelings. But I know that you know that we share the same amount of compulsive tendencies so I advise you to be more mellow with your advances and feelings,” his father says softly.

Victor only sighs because it’s true. He can get a tad overwhelming to most people and most if not all of his previous relationships ended because his partners cannot handle the snowstorm of feelings that he is.

Victor hazily realizes that the people are back in their seats and that the play will resume soon after. The next scene that will play is the part where Prince Philip is in Maleficent’s dungeon. Victor sucks his breath as he prepares his heart to not leap out of his chest at the sight of the Prince.

But once the curtain rises up, Victor feels that he’s nearly not prepared enough, he almost wishes that the curtains were drawn back again.

There on center stage, all chained up and a bit battered is Prince Philip. He’s kneeling on the floor and his head is down. His hair now a little bit messy, his clothes just a tad torn in some places and wrinkled in most but Victor thinks that he’s the most dashing Prince he has ever laid his eyes on.

Victor vaguely hears Maleficent’s cold voice and he is not at all affected by it by now. Yuuri raises his head up to look at Maleficent with malice in his eyes and _‘Oh, he’s still charming even when mad,’_ Victor thinks wistfully.

Prince Philip struggles in his chains as he tries to get to Maleficent but to no avail. Victor notices how Yuuri’s arms flex and how muscular he must be under those clothes; he licks his lips at the thought. The scene ended soon much to Victor’s dismay, he likes the way how adorable Yuuri looks when angry or the way how his hands will clench and his muscles will show.

The lights dim until the spotlight is only focused on Yuuri and his downcast expression. Victor feels pain twinge at his heart in seeing the man look so troubled. One hand grips at his chest while the other grips the armrest as Yuuri began to let out tears. It’s so heartbreaking to watch. He wants to turn his head away and close his eyes but his want to watch Yuuri’s different expressions outweighs the other option.

The light spreads in the stage again and then comes the three fairies with the intention to free Prince Philip. The shackles open and the Prince lift himself up from the ground. He is given a shield and a sword that is enchanted with good magic before the quartet exits to the left side of the stage.

The next scene is a fight scene with Maleficent’s goons and Victor has to bite back his tongue the last minute before he can wolf whistle from his seat. If mad Yuuri got Victor riled up, furious Yuuri is the very definition of ‘sinful’ in Victor’s dictionary. The fighting sequences are choreographed to look like a dance and even if Yuuri is swinging a huge sword, he’s still graceful and moves fluidly across the stage.

The goons exit the stage and the Prince looks around, worry and desperation painted on his face. At the very top of the elevated part of the stage in the center lies the Sleeping Beauty but before Prince Philip can even think of running to where the Princess is, Maleficent appears again, this time with every intention of killing the Prince.

Victor’s gripping the armrests of his seat so tightly that he’s sure blood doesn’t circulate at the tips of his fingers anymore.

Maleficent and Prince Philip fights it out. Victor can’t help but marvel at Yuuri’s handsome face as the fight sequence is going on. The fight ends with Prince Philip victoriously has the sword planted firmly in Maleficent’s chest. The intense music dies down and a soft ballad replaces it as the Prince slowly makes his way towards the sleeping princess.

Victor can tell that the entire audience is holding its breath as the Prince leans down to capture the Princess’ lips in a True Love’s Kiss. Victor feels himself exhale a breath of relief as Yuuri moves artistically to cover the ‘kiss’, Victor assumes right then that the kiss is not real.

The lights dim until it fades to black but not a moment after it is back on again. Joyous music is playing in the background as the kingdom is celebrating the arrival of Princess Aurora and her engagement to Prince Philip.

The final dance takes place as the cast sang in chorus to Victor’s favorite song. But he can’t hear it, can’t hear the melody, and can’t hear the angelic voices singing the song. He can only hear his own heart thrumming loudly in his chest as he stares at Yuuri. Yuuri who has a peaceful smile on his face that reaches his eyes, whose hands are around the Princess and is leading her in the dance, and whose eyes are fixed to the woman in front of him.

Victor wishes sadly, that one day those soft looking eyes and that loving gaze would belong to him and only him.

 

The curtain call was up next and all the actors and actresses line up on the stage. They introduced themselves one by one but Victor doesn’t pay attention to any of them except one.

“Good evening everyone! Um… Ah, I’m Yuuri Katsuki. I’m probably not the actor you all were expecting to be playing Prince Philip tonight but JJ is still recovering from his minor flu so I filled him in today. I still hope that you enjoyed my performance, thank you all for loving and supporting Prince Philip and his quest for true love.”

Victor feels his heart soar at how adorable the man is right in front of him.

“I hope you would come and support the play all throughout the two weeks that we will be in here in this city. Tell your friends and family or maybe come back yourself and support the Alternate cast,” Yuuri says smiling at the audience.

Then Yuuri stops smiling and is focused on one particular spot in the audience. Victor realizes that Yuuri is staring in his general direction and he can’t help but hope that Yuuri can see him even with all the stage light beaming at his face, that Yuuri is staring at him and that he can also feel the unexplainable magnetic pull Victor feels even before the start of the play.

But it ends as fast as it started. Yuuri clears his throat and thanks the audience once more and it garners the actor an enthusiastic round of applause. Victor stays frozen in place as the curtain call continues and the remaining actors all say their gratitude to the audience. Victor can still feel the heat of Yuuri’s gaze through his bones.

The curtain call ends and people began to file out of the theater. His father stays sitting beside him until Victor realizes that they’re the only ones left. “I need to get you back in the hospital, Papa,” Victor says quietly and his father makes a noncommittal noise as he stands up and makes his way to leave, Victor following him a few steps behind.

The ride back to the hospital is a quiet event. Victor is still out of it, he can’t forget those expressive brown eyes and that beautiful smile that he’s sure can light up the whole night. His father is quiet besides him too but a pat on his head and a squeeze on his shoulder let Victor know that his father _knows how this feels like._

Victor leads his father back to his private room in the hospital, helps him change into a hospital gown before helping him lie down on the bed. Victor sits on the chair besides the bed and bows his head low. He feels the comforting weight of his father’s hand on top of his head. “Remember to act on your feelings. But also don’t forget to see what the other person wants and don’t ever neglect them. Be yourself, Vitya but also let the other person to be himself.”

Victor raises his head and smiles at his father. His father removes his hand as Victor stands up, he gives a brief good night and a kiss to his father’s cheek before leaving the hospital. Instead of taking a taxi, Victor decides to walk home instead to help clear his mind but somehow, the extended time alone only makes him think about the actor more.

Victor stops walking and sighs. He hails a taxi to go home faster, so that his thoughts about the actor won’t disturb him as much anymore. When he arrives in his apartment, Victor forgoes his nightly routine and plops down on his bed with his coat and shoes still on.

He groans into the pillows as brown expressive eyes and a warm smile invades his thoughts. He felt a myriad of emotions in just one play, just because of one person. He wonders how explosive he will be if he did get to meet Yuuri officially.

He rolls on his back so he can stare at his ceiling. With his mind set in stone and his hearth thrums sure he closes his eyes.

_‘I have to meet Yuuri Katsuki at least once. Father God, please grant me this one wish. Please let me borrow some of his time.’_

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :) Leave a comment for your thoughts or maybe you just saw a typo and wanted to point it out :))


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the warm responses that I got for the previous chapter: This one is a little shorter but I'll make it up by the next :>
> 
> I hope you enjoy this one too!

Fortunately Victor doesn’t have to wait that long for him to meet the Prince that swept his heart away. The evening after his father and he watched the play, when office hours end he finds himself standing in front of the theater. His feet unknowingly brought him to the place where he has first seen his love at first sight.

Victor looks at his watch and shakes his head. For sure that the play is going on right now and that Yuuri would be at the stage instead of loitering around the vicinity like Victor hopes. With a sigh, Victor continues on walking towards the hospital instead of taking a cab, he wants to have some time alone to think and put the image of Yuuri aside in his head.

Yuri looked at him funny during the morning when Victor came to get his breakfast. When he arrived in his office he almost forgot to greet his secretary which earned him another concerned look. Victor muted everything that happened during the conference that he’s at. The duration of his day just revolves around Yuuri, Yuuri, _Yuuri._ It’s almost pathetic.

Victor walks slowly, his lower lip jutting out in a pout. It’s really pathetic how much he expects Yuuri to be in front of the theater waiting. Waiting for _him._

The chill of early spring air brings Victor out of his fantasies as he stops to rub at his sides in attempt to get warm. The lights around him are warmly lit and the shops look so inviting with their warm air in contrast to the biting cold of spring. Victor looks around to find a place he can stay for a while to warm up and buy some coffee to bring to the hospital when he finds a familiar shade of brown staring at him from the small coffee shop across the road.

Victor stares back at the man and he registers warm and expressive brown eyes behind thick blue rimmed glasses and round soft cheeks peeking out from the sweater and scarf combo. A moment too soon, the man lowers his head and proceeds to sip at his steaming cup of coffee as if the stare down he just had with Victor across the street didn’t happen. Victor oddly finds the man familiar but with the distance he can’t be quite sure.

Victor quickly finds the nearest pedestrian lane and crosses to the other side without a moment’s delay. He peeks discreetly in the shop through the glass walls and confirms that the man is still there, seemingly waiting for how he often looks around him.

Taking a huge breath of air (and then regretting it immediately after because _damn the air is so cold I feel my whole mouth go dry_ ) Victor opens the door to the café with a little too much force, the chimes hitting against each other rather fiercely. Some eyes turn to glare at him while others pay him no mind. He sees those brown eyes look at him from the corner of his eyes but Victor goes to the counter first and buys himself some latte.

He takes his coffee from the counter before acting like he’s looking for a seat even though he knows where he’s really going. The seat besides the young man with brown eyes remains empty as Victor slowly makes his way to him. Once he is an arm’s length away from the man Victor taps his shoulder lightly, the young man immediately turns his head to face him.

Victor gives his million dollar watt smile at the young man sitting before him, “May I take the seat next to you?” he says smoothly. A moment of silence fall into place between the two of them but before it becomes too awkward the young man quietly lets out a ‘yes’ to Victor’s waiting question. Victor smiles as he settles down besides the man, he still can’t quite figure out why he seems so familiar, his voice and his eyes gives him an image in his mind and soon he fits all the pieces together. A huge smile creeps on his face and he tries to hide it by sipping on his latte cup.

Victor’s hand is shaking by the time he puts down his cup, causing it to clatter onto the little plate the cup is on. “You seem oddly familiar to me,” Victor starts and he sees the young man jerk in his seat causing some coffee to spill from the sides of his cup.

The young man faces him slowly, adjusting his glasses as he did so, “Have we…met before?” He asks nervously and Victor can’t help but find those beautiful warm brown eyes captivating as the man faces him. Victor loses his composure as he unabashedly stares at the man before him. He sucks a breath as he takes in how beautiful and adorable the young man is.

“Once upon a dream…” Victor says in a sigh, almost breathless and the man splutters as he tries to process what just Victor said. Victor realizes a moment too late that he said that out loud as he panics and composes himself.

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant,” Victor says in a rush, his cheeks red and he’s far too warm to blame the coloring of his cheeks to the cold outside. “I mean… I watched you during opening night of Sleeping Beauty and I liked the way you act and I’m not being creepy here I just want to say that… Oh my god I’m rambling I’m sorry.”

Victor rarely loses his composure and even if he did he’s quick to recover but those wide brown eyes and that soft supple mouth that’s parted in an adorable ‘o’ kind of short circuits Victor’s brain and stops his heart. Victor puts his hands on his face as he groans lowly, turning to face his coffee cup instead, “You can ignore me if you like.” He says lamely.

“T-thank you,”

Victor hears the same timid voice from earlier but finds that he misses the strong confident vibrato of the man that he is on stage. Victor turns slowly to look at Yuuri, his hands are still on his face albeit he’s slowly lowering them down. He finds Yuuri fidgeting with the hem of his sweater as he has his head down, a dusting of pink adorn his cheeks which makes Victor want to clench his chest at the sight. The final blow is that Yuuri is smiling, small and adorable but Victor finds that the happiness reaches his eyes.

“Nobody ever notices me if I’m off the stage,” Yuuri says softly, raising his head. “I didn’t think somebody would recognize me when I’m this plain off stage,” Yuuri chuckles. “But you’re beautiful on and off stage…” Victor says matter-of-factly and Yuuri’s eyes widen. “Oh… You are too kind,” his shy smile returns as he lowers his head down again. Victor feels his confidence rise once again as he leans forward until he’s almost face to face to Yuuri even with his head down. “But it’s true,” Victor says it soft but with conviction as if he can’t stress it enough. “Yuuri Katsuki, you’re beautiful,” Victor says again and Yuuri feels his breath catch before he smiles, much wider than what he’s been giving moments before.

“Thank you,”

When their eyes meet Victor takes in a sharp breath and he can feel Yuuri do the same. He can see a darker shade of pink coloring Yuuri’s cheeks and no doubt his face looks the same. They stare at each other a moment too long to be considered awkward and in a quick motion Victor feels Yuuri lean back more than he sees him, Victor no longer feels the brunet’s breath near his own.

Quelling down his confused disappointment Victor clears his throat and offers a smile to Yuuri which the latter enthusiastically gives back. “Um…” Yuuri starts, unsure. “May I get your name?” Victor blinks at the request and before he can even give his answer, Yuuri starts rambling.

“Um I mean, it feels awkward to me for you to know my name and I just really want to thank you properly for seeing the play on opening night and to also thank you because you liked my acting but you should see JJ – I mean, Jean-Jacques Leroy, you know the main guy playing Philip? Because he’s ways better than me and I just really want to thank you for the support – Oh god I can’t believe I’m rambling I’m sor-““Victor Nikiforov,” Victor interjects quickly and his tone lilting in amusement, it got Yuuri’s attention and he shuts his mouth immediately, face pinking.

 “N-nice to officially meet you…Mr. Nikiforov…?” Yuuri offers his hand for a handshake but Victor shakes his head causing Yuuri to jerk his hand away but before he can do so, Victor holds his hand in a firm grip and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Yuuri looks up to meet Victor’s face and the silver haired man is smiling widely at him, his mouth making a curved ‘v’ that almost looks like a heart; Yuuri finds this fact important and stores it in his mind.

“Just Victor is fine,” he says as he squeezes Yuuri’s hand one more time before letting go, almost instantaneously regretting doing so, he already misses Yuuri’s warmth. “Would it be okay if I call you by your first name?” Victor asks. Yuuri gives him a sheepish smile and nods. Victor immediately tests it out, “Yuuri…” Victor lengthens the ‘yu’ sound a little bit and Victor finds the name easily rolling off his tongue. He can’t really describe it but Yuri’s ‘Yuri’ and Yuuri’s ‘Yuuri’ are different from each other even though they’re essentially the same name. Victor finds that he likes the latter one better.

The Russian takes a chance and looks at Yuuri’s face, examining it thoroughly. Yuuri’s mouth is agape, forming a little ‘o’ before closing again, like a fish out of water but cuter. His cheeks are tinted with light pink and Victor doesn’t know if the reason is him or the steam rising still from Yuuri’s cup which he brought to his face. Victor finds that Yuuri’s lashes are beautifully long, curling at the end and it makes his gorgeous brown eyes stand out even more, even if they’re partially hidden by his thick rimmed glasses. His cheeks remain soft and round, even though Victor knows and has seen the outline of Yuuri’s toned body. Victor notices how Yuuri’s eyes would flash to look at him briefly and then avert them to look at his mug instead.

“Um… Is there something wrong?” Yuuri asks, confusion written on his face as Victor continues to stare at him. Yuuri finds it very flattering that the man in front of him finds him – his acting – as beautiful but being stared at without the help of stage lights to blur the eyes staring holes through him into nothingness discomforts Yuuri. He fidgets in his seat as he tries to cover his face by raising his mug and sipping for a little bit too long.

Victor comes out of his trance a moment after, shaking his head rigorously “I’m sorry for staring at you like that, it must be uncomfortable,” he says sounding very genuine and Yuuri hums and accepts his apology. Silence befalls them once more.

After a minute or two Victor speaks up “I’m wondering… aren’t you supposed to be in the theater?” he nonchalantly sips his latte to hopefully pass his question as a mere inquiry. “JJ is on stage today and the director lets me and the other alternatives down the hook,” Yuuri replies. There is a few seconds gap when Yuuri hears Victor’s chair moving until Yuuri can see from the corner of his eyes that Victor is now fully turned to him, “I don’t understand how you’re listed as an Alternate cast when you act and sing so well.”

The genuine concern makes Yuuri splutter out his drink. Both of them panic as Victor holds out wads of tissues for Yuuri to take and the latter gladly accepts them and pats the tissues on the table to soak up the moisture.

“I’m still just an understudy. I’m still learning the ways of the theater. Being able to sing and act just not cut it anymore nowadays.” Yuuri says dismissively. “But from what I saw of you on stage and with all those cheers you got on opening night, you’re more than deserving to play a title role.” Yuuri laughs at the remark. “I don’t think I’m ready for a title role, Victor.”

Victor has to bite his tongue to stop the undoubtedly loud sigh from escaping his lips. His name being spoken by Yuuri just makes his heart melt and his stomach leap.

“JJ is a much more experienced actor and the group’s precious star. I don’t think I’ll ever get the title of being the precious star but I try my best.” Yuuri says, chuckling. “I may not be as important of a cast as I am right now, I still want to strive and give it my all.” Yuuri turns to look outside the busy streets, a melancholic smile adorning his face.

“With your acting and your beautiful voice, you’d be the world’s most precious star in no time.” Yuuri just shakes his head at Victor’s soft reply. “Flattery would get you nowhere, you know.” Yuuri tries to mask his smile by sipping on his cup and in the corner of his eye he could see Victor’s warm smile before it disappears behind his latte mug.

 

After talking about a myriad of things the two could think of, Yuuri’s phone vibrates in his pocket signaling a text. Yuuri fishes it out from his pocket and then reading the message. Victor sees his face scrunch up in a small frown before a sigh escapes his lips. “I’m needed at the theater…” Victor nods as he understands and soon the two are walking towards the entrance of the shop, empty coffee mugs forgotten.

The cold bite of late night spring air blows past Victor’s face and he could never be more thankful for the wake-up call that what transcribed between him and Yuuri a few moments ago just happened. They just stepped outside of the café and now Victor realizes how small Yuuri is compared to him. The difference is not big but it is noticeable and Victor can’t help the want to hug Yuuri from his side creep through his mind as he sees the young man rub his hands up his sides in an attempt to warm himself in the cold.

“I had fun. Thank you for taking your time to spend your hours with me,” Victor says while smiling at Yuuri and the latter almost can’t explain the fluttery feeling blooming inside his chest in seeing that smile.

“You’re welcome. I had fun too,” Yuuri smiles back, the tint on his cheeks unmistakable, now Victor does not know whether it is because of him or the weather. “I should probably head back to the theater now,” he says after a moment after.

Victor nods “I have to get going too.” But none of them budge from their places outside the café. Both of them stare across the street at nothing in particular but Victor is paying more attention to the streetlamp and Yuuri’s paying an unnecessary amount of attention to the newly painted pedestrian lane.

“Um…” Yuuri starts after a while. Victor turns his attention to the man beside him but not saying anything, silently urging Yuuri to continue. “I… I would like for this to… uh… happen again… I mean-! I… had a lot of fun so if… if you’re up to it…” Yuuri stutters, his cheeks turning a brighter shade of pink as he turns to the other side to hide his face from Victor’s. Victor could still see the pink on Yuuri’s ears even so and he can also feel his own face heating up.

“I would love to…” Victor says too softly but Yuuri catches it and he turns to face Victor again. “Spend time with you, I mean,” He hurries to supply and Yuuri nods slowly before a huge smile breaks on his face. “May I get your number then?” Victor asks as he fishes for his phone in his pocket. Yuuri nods as he takes his out too. They exchange numbers with smiles on their faces. “Thanks… I’ll… I’ll text you… or you could text me… whichever works,” Yuuri says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head and Victor nods and hums as he puts his phone back in his coat pocket.

“Well… I really should be going now. Um. Yeah.” Yuuri finishes lamely but Victor just chuckles, “Take care. See you again, Yuuri.” Yuuri smiles a final time before turning to the direction of the theater and Victor watches him go, a sigh leaving his lips. Turning around himself, he makes his way towards the hospital, a poorly masked smile on his face.

 

He opens the door of his father’s private room to find the man munching on oranges likely given by the nurse. The older man looks at him and smiles, patting the spot next to his bed. Victor trudges towards his father before slumping on the chair and leaning his head down onto the hospital bed.

“Had a rough day?” His father asks gruffly. Victor can feel his father’s gentle fingers work on the knots in his hair, smoothing them out. He shakes his head but makes no hint to move anytime soon. “I had a wonderful day, Papa.” Victor says quietly with softness in his voice and even though the bed was muffling his son’s voice, Victor’s father catches the tone his son used.

Victor raises his head to look at his father, his eyes wide with excitement and his lips split into a huge grin, “I met him today. The love of my life.” He sees his father raise his eyebrow but does not question him. Soon his dad’s lips curved into a small smile, his hand on his son’s head making a patting motion before moving away. “Tell me all about it, then.” And Victor does, with all too much enthusiasm in his voice. But his father does not take his attention away from his son even for a moment, intently listening to Victor ramble about the ‘adorable Japanese cast that played Prince Philip; with eyes that are so expressive and a smile that reaches his eyes.’

“-And I got his number and we plan on hanging out again sometime. I do hope it is soon but I know we both have work to fulfill.” Victor finishes, a little out of breath. His father hums as he hands Victor a slice of orange. “It seems like my son is definitely in love,” Victor laughs at his father’s chiding tone but he does not deny the accusation.

Victor pops the slice into his mouth and he feels his eyes close as the fresh juices of the orange burst in his mouth, the fresh fruit is a welcome taste after the slightly bitter latte he just had. He once again feels his father’s hand on his head and Victor opens his eyes to face his dad. “Just remember that no matter what I’m right here for you, son. I’m rooting for you. After all you have the Nikiforov blood flowing in your veins.” His father obnoxiously ruffles his son’s head and Victor groans but there’s fondness in it and he can never be more thankful for his father for supporting him.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penny for your thoughts? :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor sees the play one more time and it's his and Yuuri's first official not-date.
> 
> Also, Victor does something illegal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck I have no excuse as to why this thing is ao late holy shit-- 
> 
> too much academic writing sapped the creativity out of me it was so hard to get back to writing!! But I'm back now and I fully intend to make my two month break writing and getting my creative drive back. 
> 
> Thank you for all of your patience!! Thank you for supporting me! 
> 
> This is not beta'd. I only ever read it twice over before posting it so there is most likely to be an error.

Victor paces back and forth his wide living room space, still in his boxers. On one hand he’s holding his phone, on the other is a piece of unbitten toast that’s starting to go cold. Chewing his lips he types up a message:

_TO: Yuuri_

_Good morning Yuuri! How are you today?_

_Don’t you think today is a good day? It’d be kind of a waste if we didn’t spend it to the fullest_

_‘Delete delete delete…’_

Victor sighs as he once again deletes the draft. It has only been half a day since he has last seen Yuuri however he can’t help but miss the Japanese actor. Victor wants to see him again and maybe have dinner with him. He’s planning on visiting his father early to inform the older Nikiforov of his plans and to get moral support while he’s at it, then he plans to meet up with Yuuri if the younger man accepted his invitation, take him to dinner to hopefully get to know more of the Japanese man and for Yuuri to get to know more about him.

Victor can’t help but feel that there is a connection between the two of them, no matter how cheesy it sounds. The silver haired man became enamored the first time he has laid eyes on Yuuri, much more when Victor heard him sing and then he got the chance to meet the Yuuri offstage and the Russian can’t help but swoon.

Finally taking a bite from his (now cold and hard) toast Victor composes a new message:

_TO: Yuuri_

_Good morning Yuuri! How are you today?_

_I had fun last night and I’m wondering if we could meet again?_

_I really want to get to know more about you_

_You seem like a very interesting guy!! :) :)_

Victor glares at the screen for a few more seconds before deciding it needs one more smiley emoticon before hitting send. He places his phone face down on the coffee table and tries not to think about the message he has just sent as he finishes his toast and began preparing for a new work day.

He tries hard to ignore his phone as he was getting ready but once he hears his ringtone for a message, Victor forgoes fixing his tie as he rushes to get his phone. He opens the messaging app and Victor feels the widest smile form on his face. It’s from _Yuuri._

_FROM: Yuuri_

_good morning to you too victor! im fine thank you_

_how are you?_

_i would love for us to meet again but i cant today._

_jj had overused his voice in yesterdays shows_

_and now he has a croaky voice again_

_ill have to fill up his role again today._

_we could meet up the day after if everything goes okay?_

There’s a joy in knowing that Yuuri texts without capitalizing anything and that he also doesn’t use commas. Victor smiles, giddy, as he types in his reply,

_TO: Yuuri_

_I’m fine too, Yuuri! :)_

_I guess I would just watch you perform again today!_

_I did love your performance on opening night and I was already planning on going again sometime this week or next week! ;)_

_May I also spend time with you after the show?_

Victor hit send before gently placing his phone on the table again, face up this time. Victor took care of fixing his tie, making sure that it’s not crooked and is secured. Once done he gets his phone again to check the schedule of ticket selling of the theatre, wanting to be the first one to be in line or maybe hopefully avoiding the line. A pop-up shows itself indicating that Victor got a reply from Yuuri. The Russian’s glad that the actor seems to be noticing him and is actually taking the time to talk to him even though they’re not really friends yet.

_FROM: Yuuri_

_really? tickets arent cheap victor!!_

_and they have no discounts on the day itself!!_

_i can make up time for us to see each other after the show if you would rather??_

Victor raised his eyebrow at this. It seems that Yuuri is worried for his financial status but is still very much willing to spend time with each other. Victor smiles and shakes his head.

_TO: Yuuri_

_Yuuri it’s fine, really. I can afford it don’t worry ;)_

_I’d do anything to see you perform on stage again_

_And I would very much want to hear you sing again :)_

After hitting send, Victor takes his suit jacket and puts it on before grabbing his suitcase and heading out the door. Victor doesn’t bother going to the fast food joint today because it is Yuri’s day off (Victor admittedly only goes there to talk to the young cashier and in consequence annoy the teen) so Victor walks briskly in order to get to the building faster, get his work done earlier, and get to buy a ticket immediately.

Victor didn’t forget to greet his secretary today and the woman only nods at him and gives him a small smile before turning her attention back to the computer. Victor only hopes there is no conference to attend to today.

After situating himself on his work desk, he pulls out his phone to see that Yuuri has replied to him. Immediately, he unlocks his phone to see the message,

_FROM: Yuuri_

_if youre really sure…_

_thank you victor for supporting the play_

_and i could hang out with you after the show so…_

_see you later?_

Victor can almost hear the same uncertain tone Yuuri used last night when they were parting ways and it makes his stomach do little flips.

_TO: Yuuri_

_See you later, Yuuri! Break a leg tonight! :) :) :)_

Victor pauses before adding another smiley face for good measure. You can’t have too many smiley faces in a text message.

 

Victor is thankful that his secretary did not enter his office to announce a conference or a new visual report that needs approval or that a wide-eyed new recruit is to present a proposal they think would sell but is actually just trash.

He got his daily work done by 4:30 PM. Victor puts a few other documents for tomorrow in his suitcase for preliminary reading at home before greeting his secretary goodbye and rushing out of the door. Taking a breath of the fresh city air outside of the building has Victor feeling rejuvenated and refreshed, even though city air is not really the freshest thing one could inhale.

Victor hails a taxi to be able to go to the theater. Ticket selling starts at around 5 PM for the 8 PM show, the play lasts for 2 hours and if Victor and Yuuri hurry, they could still go to the retro themed diner just a few blocks away from the theater before it closes at midnight.

He sighs in relief when he got out of the taxi to find out that there are not much people buying the tickets for tonight’s show. He’ll probably get a seat far from the stage but just as long as he can hear Yuuri well, he’ll be fine.

Victor got his ticket by 5:30 PM and since he has time to kill, he decides to go to his father to tell him about his plans for tonight. He hails another taxi to go to the hospital, spending the ride listening to that one song his mother used to love so much. He hums to the song in a low tune with a soft smile on his face.

 

“Isn’t it too early for you to be here, son?”

Is Ivan Nikiforov’s first greeting to his son upon seeing the younger version of himself.

Victor only chuckled as he sits on his usual chair besides his father’s bed. Ivan is in the middle of peeling an orange when Victor walked in. When Victor is comfortably seated on the chair, the older Nikiforov pats his son’s head gently and Victor smiles.

“I finished my work early today, Papa. I’m afraid I don’t have much time today, I’ll be watching the play again,” Victor sad sheepishly. He heard that low grumble of a laugh from his father and Victor finds that Ivan has that smile on, the smile that reaches his eyes and makes his laugh lines more prominent.

“My boy is growing up so fast. Just don’t be like me!” Ivan laughs as Victor splutters on how ridiculous his father is. “I didn’t propose to him the first time we met, Papa,” Victor says while suppressing giggles. Ivan gives his son an affectionate ruffle of the head and it only causes the both of them to laugh out more.

“So son, tell me how you plan this date to go?” Ivan teased. Victor shakes his head with a weak chuckle “I wouldn’t call it a date. Not yet, at least. After the play, we plan on hanging out. Maybe getting dinner and just talk,” Victor says in a small voice, almost wistful.

“Well I suggest getting that boy a bouquet of flowers, because who doesn’t like flowers? Also, flowers are a sure message that you’re interested,” Ivan bellows out as he gives his son a rather hash smack on the back. Victor surges forward, almost falling from his chair, he steps a foot out immediately to gain his balance again and his father only laughs at him.

Victor gives his father a half-hearted glare as he thinks about what Ivan has suggested. “Red roses are a good start!” Ivan exclaims excitedly as Victor fixes himself on the chair. “Won’t that be too forward?” Victor asks quirking a brow at his father’s choice.

“There is nothing too forward when it comes to flowers, son. Plus, red roses aren’t just for romance you know? Just tell the boy that you read somewhere that Russians give each other red roses for appreciation and viola ‘I’m giving you a bouquet’!”

“Pink roses are the ones for appreciation, Papa,” Victor says, amused. Ivan shrugs as he pops another slice of orange in his mouth. “I’m just saying, Victor, that the flowers would help. It is still up to you, but I know you like to be flashy. You’d probably go buy a two dozen bouquet for the boy,” Victor huffs out a breath. He knows that his father is right and he WILL go buy maybe a three dozen bouquet but he’s just not sure whether roses are the best option.

“There is a flower shop just at the corner of the street,” Victor muses aloud and his father beams as the older man ruffles his son’s hair once more.

 

“If ever you got him, son, I want you to bring him to me so that I can meet him. You hear?” Ivan says in a mock scolding tone just as Victor opens the door of the room. “That is still far in the future, Papa,” Victor jokes and Ivan just laughs. “You have the Nikiforov blood in you, kid. I have no doubt in your abilities. Now go and get that boy three dozen roses,” Ivan practically shoos his son out of the door and Victor laughs.

“I will, Papa. Have a good night.”

“Have a good night, son.”

Victor gently closes the door before briskly walking out of the hospital to the small flower shop just down the street. Victor quickly finds a big beautiful premade bouquet that is displayed at the front of the shop that contains no less than 36 roses in red and various shades of pink.

The startling ring of the wind chime as the door hits it causes Victor to wince at how eager he appears to be. The shop owner approached Victor and he wastes no time in telling the owner that he wants the arrangement by the window.

“The bouquet of 48 stems of red and pink roses, Sir?”

Victor nodded and the man goes on to get the beautifully arranged bouquet. Victor follows the owner to the cashier to ring in his order.

“That would be two hundred dollars, Sir.”

Once the bouquet is finally paid for, Victor cradles it delicately in his arms, afraid of possibly bruising any of the buds. He thanks the florist and pockets his credit card. Victor carefully walks outside, his eyes always glancing back to the bouquet in his arms. He fishes for his phone in his pocket to look at the time.

_‘7:15 PM. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to be early’_

Just as Victor is about to put his phone back in his pocket, it buzzed with a new message. Victor smiles in finding out that it is Yuuri who texted him.

_FROM: Yuuri_

_see you soon :)_

Victor replies back with a string of heart emojis, smileys, and other flashy emoticons.

 

Just as expected, Victor’s seat is not the best in the house. He is located too far back that fifty percent of what he sees are heads of the other viewers. He’s thankful that he has 20/20 vision and that straightening his back a little gives him some height boost. The bouquet is situated a little bit uncomfortably on his lap and its ends brush his seat mates and he would often hear not so subtle grumbling and complaining whenever he shifts in his seat and the bouquet shifts too. He admittedly has gotten a quite bigger than necessary bouquet for Yuuri, but Victor only wants to let the Japanese man know that he is appreciated for his talent and that he deserves to be on that stage.

The lights finally dim on the part of the audience and the blinding spotlights illuminate center stage. Victor straightens his back and scoots just a little bit closer as he prepares himself for the viewing.

Victor mostly zones out on the parts where Yuuri is not involved in some way, which is most of the time, but then the forest scene is nearing and Victor can’t help but anticipate hearing that angelic voice again. He only hopes he can play it whenever he wants.

_‘What if…’_

 An idea strikes itself in Victor’s head.

 It’s a bad idea.

 An outright illegal idea.

 But Victor wants to do it anyways.

Looking discreetly at his seatmates from both sides and confirming that they are too engrossed in the play to care about him and his big rustling bouquet, Victor quietly and slowly slips his hand in his pocket in search for his phone. He carefully pulls it out and places it under the bouquet. Victor breathes a sigh of relief in finding out that it is in the lowest brightness setting and wouldn’t disturb anyone.

Without moving his head, he strains his eyes in looking at the various apps of his phone. The scene where ‘Once Upon a Dream’ will start is in a few moments and Victor has a hard time making out some apps because of how dark his screen is. Victor triumphantly cheers in his mind when he finds the audio recorder just as Aurora finishes talking to the animals. Victor presses the record button just in time with the first notes of the song.

Victor grips his phone as Prince Philip’s part draws near. His heart is thumping in knowing that in any moment, he could get caught recording and he’d be brought to jail to serve a two year sentence and pay a hefty fine. He’s scared, yes, but once Yuuri steps in the spotlight, Victor’s worries dissipate immediately. Then Yuuri sings and Victor can’t be more proud of himself for making this wise decision.

Yuuri’s voice is _heavenly_.

Victor closes his eyes as he lets the music run through his veins. He quietly mouths the lyrics to the song, feeling it to be much more intense than all the other times he has heard it or has felt it. It almost beat his mother’s soulful rendition of the song.

Victor can hear Yuuri’s voice loud and clear and it takes him a lot of effort to keep the tears from falling. For some reason, it feels as if Yuuri is feeling it more this performance than the one on opening night. Victor can’t put his finger on it but for Victor, Yuuri feels more prince-like in tonight’s performance.

The song ends and Victor presses the end record button before situating his phone on his lap below the bouquet. To anybody who knows no better, it seems like Victor is just adjusting the bouquet in his lap but underneath the bouquet is Victor’s newest treasure that he’s sure to keep.

 

Victor doesn’t get up immediately after the show ends. He waits for his row to clear before getting his phone from his lap. He unlocks it and heightens the brightness of the screen, relieved that he pressed the right button and that the song is recorded. He also finds that he has a new message from Yuuri that was sent just after the curtains closes.

_FROM: Yuuri_

_you can come in the backstage to wait for me there…_

_ill just fix myself up before we go but i dont want you to just stand outside_

_minami knows youre with me. minami has blond hair with a red streak at the center_

_you cant miss him i think hes the only one outside the door right now_

_:) see u :)_

Victor smiles and pockets his phone. He stands up feeling his stiff bones crack from sitting down in a stiff position for too long. He rearranges the bouquet in his hands before carefully making his way to the backstage, skilfully avoiding people that are in his way.

In front of the door for the backstage, fans crowd to give their gifts to the actors, handing multiple packages to the small teen that is wearing a staff ID. True enough, the teen has blond hair with a red streak in the middle. He’s trying hard both in receiving the gifts and trying to get the fans away from the door of the backstage.

Victor weaves his way through the crowd, getting nasty glares and snide comments from the others. Just as he was about a foot away from the teen, Minami spreads his arms in an attempt to block Victor.

“Sir, this is a staff only zone. If you want to give that bouquet to an actor I would gladly hand it over to them myself.”

Minami is stern but Victor only smiles at the young teen. “I’m Victor. I believe Yuuri is expecting me?” Victor sees Minami squint his eyes and eyeing him up and down. “gray hair, blue eyes… big forehead” Minami mumbles and Victor is offended a tiny bit at the last comment.

“You’re Victor Nikiforov? Alright, Yuuri-senpai is expecting you.”

Victor got more rude comments and frustrated grumbles as Minami opens the metal door leading to the backstage. “You can sit on the first couch you see,” Minami says as Victor gets inside before slamming the metal door closed once again.

The backstage is buzzing with activity though Victor does not notice nor recognize anyone from the play loitering around. He walks around, still careful with the bouquet in hand.

After almost colliding with three staffs, Victor finds a couch piled with haphazardly thrown fabric but there is space for him to sit so he does. He looks around and observes the place a little bit more. The staffs aren’t paying attention to him; most of them are too busy carrying out large equipment and props. 

One member of the staff however is coming his way and it seems that this person’s purpose is actually Victor, his unwavering eye contact and tight smile says so.

“I presume you are Victor?”

The man asks when he is finally in front of Victor. The Russian finds himself standing up and shaking the smaller man’s hand. “Yes, I am,” he replied. Victor profiles the person in front of him: tan skin, black hair, black eyes, kind of on the short side.

“My name is Phichit and I’m Yuuri’s best friend,” Phichit’s grip on his hand suddenly tightens before the tanned man withdraws his hand away. “You brought a bouquet?” Phichit inquires with an almost unbelieving tone, “For Yuuri, yes,” Victor replies smiling. Suddenly Phichit’s smile shifted a complete 180.

“Yuuri’s still in his dressing room but I can escort you to him! He’s already done preparing for your date!”

Phichit is suddenly a ray of sunshine that surrounds Victor. The tanned man keeps on talking about Yuuri as he guides Victor towards Yuuri’s dressing room.

“I’m the official makeup artist of the cast but I’m also Yuuri’s personal makeup artist and also his best friend. Yuuri has loved theatre ever since he was a kid! I’m happy he’s getting this much recognition even though he’s still just an understudy, I’m almost glad JJ got laryngitis,” Phichit keeps on going on talking about the theater group and Yuuri and himself, often inserting that he is Yuuri’s best friend with the emphasis on the word ‘best’.

“I know a lot of things about Yuuri, I’m his best friend after all!” They turn a corner and into another hallway full of doors with nameplates on them. They soon stop at the door at the very end of the left side of the hallway.

“Yuuri!” Phichit knocks thrice. There’s shuffling from the other side of the door before it slowly opens.

“What is it now Phichit?” Yuuri sounds exhausted. Victor gulps and thinks that maybe asking Yuuri to go out after a performance is really not a good thing after all.

Phichit yanks the door to open wider and Victor hears Yuuri gasp as they lock eyes, “V-Victor! Um… I was just about to go out of my room! Uhh…” Yuuri suddenly sports an unmistakable blush and Victor smiles “Good evening, Yuuri. Great performance tonight! Here, this is for you, you deserve it,” Victor says as he hands a stunned Yuuri the huge bouquet of roses.

At first Yuuri does not make a move to receive it, but then Phichit nudges his sides and Yuuri seems to go out of trance before taking the bouquet from Victor’s hands, “You didn’t have to and these are so many…” Yuuri smiles at Victor.

“They’re also for a job well done on opening night since I didn’t get to give you something then,” Victor quips and Yuuri reddens even more. Victor finds that he has a new hobby now.

“You seriously shouldn’t have gotten all that trouble,” Yuuri chuckles, his eyes crinkling and his smile reach his eyes, “But thank you. They’re wonderful, Victor,” Victor would’ve happily ascended to heaven after witnessing such a blinding smile from Yuuri. “I’m glad you like them!” Victor happily exclaimed.

They stare for each other a little bit too long, neither of them knowing what to do next. Thankfully Phichit diffuses the awkward air by clearing his throat. “I believe you guys have somewhere to go?” This got the both of them blushing, Yuuri going even redder and Victor now has a pink tint to his cheeks.

“I’ll take care of the roses and put them in a vase. Thank you for the flowers, Victor!! Now go, it’s already ten thirty, there aren’t much diners open right now!!” Phichit practically shoves Yuuri out of his dressing room before he himself enters the room “Bye you two! Have a good night! Be back at the hotel by two, Yuuri!” were Phichit’s final words before the tanned man slams the door shut and the faint click of the lock is heard.

For a moment the two were awkwardly standing in the door way. Yuuri is still flushed so Victor took the initiative. He holds out his hand and rubs comforting circles around Yuuri’s back. “Are you still up for going to dinner with me? If you’re too tired I understand. I’m happy that I get to see you still—“ “L-let’s go!” Yuuri squeaks, his face still red and he’s not quite looking at Victor’s direction, but the Russian can see in Yuuri’s eyes that he’s decided. Victor smiles and holds Yuuri’s wrist to guide them to where they’re going.

“Okay. There’s a diner not far from this place, they’re open until midnight so there’s no rush” Victor informs Yuuri and the latter nods as he let himself be guided by the wrist to the diner. When they get out of the backstage door, they find Minami clearing up the last pieces of gifts and the other fans are nowhere to be found.

Minami gives Yuuri a salute to which the actor smiles at; Minami manages to sneak a dirty look to Victor that goes unnoticed by Yuuri. Minami pointed to both of his eyes before pointing at Victor; a menacing gesture, but Victor’s not much worried about Minami as he is about Phichit.

None of them talk for the duration of the short walk to the diner but the both of them cannot ignore the warmth from the constant contact of their hands and wrists. Victor keeps a firm but gentle tug on Yuuri’s wrist as he leads the way.

The diner is thankfully still open when they arrive. It sports the style of almost every retro diner there is: a bright neon sign, checkered floor, red plush seats, vintage vinyl records framed and hanged permanently on the walls, and there’s even a jukebox on the side but nobody is currently playing anything on it.

Aside from them, there are only three other patrons in the diner, all of them are quiet as they take their meals.  Victor and Yuuri get seats far away from the other patrons, a booth located at the end of the diner. A waitress soon after approaches them to hand out the menus and then leaving them again on their own.

“I haven’t been to this place before, I don’t know what to get” Yuuri muses aloud as he glances at the menu. “Their burgers and milkshakes are to die for. Also, I recommend getting the double cheese fries,” Victor suggests as he puts his menu down, already making up his mind on what to get. Yuuri hums as he closes his menu and smiles “I guess I’ll get those then,” Victor chuckles and he waves the waitress over.

“Ready to order, gentlemen?” the waitress asks as she’s getting her notepad out. “I’ll have the diner’s special burger, a caramel milkshake, and an order of double cheese fries,” Victor lists without taking his eyes off of Yuuri. “I’ll have the same things he’s getting except I want a chocolate milkshake,” Yuuri says and hands the menus back to the waitress. The woman repeats their orders and with their confirmation she heads back to the counter.

“I hope this isn’t too much trouble for you, Yuuri. You must be tired after the performance,” Victor says apologetically but Yuuri only shakes his head. “I’m not that tired, don’t worry,” he smiles and it just melts Victor’s heart a little bit more.

There is a beat of silence before Victor notices Yuuri shuffling in his seat quite uncomfortably. “I can’t believe you watched the play twice… and with me as the Prince both times…” Yuuri says shyly and his eyes downcast. “I enjoyed both times!” Victor exclaims enthusiastically “Especially today. I don’t know but you seem much more radiant and excellent on stage this time around,” Victor continues and it causes Yuuri to blink up at him. “Ah! Not saying that the opening night was not good! Not at all! Opening night was very good! But for some reason, I felt your performance earlier more immersive… if that makes sense?” Victor rushes to add.

As the Russian continues to speak, Yuuri can feel his temperature rising and has no doubt that his cheeks are now sporting a tint of pink and now looking carefully at Victor who is pointedly staring at him, Yuuri can see the pink on his cheeks too. For a while none of them speak but they both do not break eye contact.

Yuuri blinks once then twice before smiling as he realizes the weight of Victor’s words to him “Thank you…” Yuuri dips his head low to express his gratitude and Victor is taken aback with how softly Yuuri says his thanks and also with how Yuuri seems to take his words seriously.

Yuuri leans back and faces Victor again and the blond can’t help but be mesmerized once again by the sheer beauty of Yuuri Katsuki. Yuuri is smiling at him, a smile that reaches his eyes, filled with gratitude and fondness. “Thank you. I… I gave it my all tonight,” Yuuri laughs timidly and Victor breaks into a smile of his own.

The waitress comes back with their food and drinks in hand. The pair thanked her before digging in and Victor almost chokes on his rather large bite of his burger when Yuuri suddenly lets out a quite loud moan. Victor sees that Yuuri is firstly eating the fries with a happy smile on his face, cheese sauce smeared at the corner of his lips.

“Wow. You’re not kidding when you said these were good! Thanks for bringing me here!” Yuuri says in between handfuls of fries that he shoves in his mouth. “I’m glad you like them! But don’t shove all of them in your mouth! You might choke like that!” Victor says jokingly but with a worried note in his voice “I’d be happy to go this way,” Yuuri says laughing.

It was only a matter of seconds before the merry laughter dies down and is replaced with choking and coughing. Victor rushes to Yuuri’s side to rub at his back immediately offering the Japanese a glass of water the waitress is kind enough to provide when she sees a costumer on the brink of death.

Yuuri greedily drinks the water offered; he slams the glass down the table after the last drop. He is still sniffling a bit as Victor continues to rub his back. “I forgot that you can’t actually laugh while eating,” Yuuri croaked miserably and Victor offers a sympathetic pat on his shoulder, “That would cause choking my dear Yuuri, and look where we are now,” Victor jokes and Yuuri manages an amused huff.

After reassuring Victor that he is indeed fine, the Russian returns back to his seat but is still keeping a careful eye at his companion. Yuuri visibly slows down his chews and would only put a few pieces of fries in his mouth and small bites of burgers and would always wash it down immediately with water. “It has been a while since I’ve eaten such unhealthy food I really can’t help myself,” Yuuri says after they’ve both finished their meals and are nursing their rather huge servings of milkshakes.

“Oh? Why?” Victor inquires as he takes a sip of his own. “Well… I gain fat easily and in order to play this role properly, even if I am just an understudy, I need to be fit and also the clothes are already tailored, I can’t have it altered really,” Yuuri chuckles and takes a long sip of his chocolate milkshake.

“So this is the first time you’ve indulged yourself like this?” Victor asks as he leans just a little bit forward in anticipation for Yuuris answer and when the brunet answers an affirmative, Victor can’t help but feel the rush of pride that he managed to get Yuuri to do something he usually does not do. “I hope I’m not imposing on you like this? I don’t want to ruin your regimen.”

_Also, I don’t want to be hated by the staff and Phichit, definitely not Phichit._

“Oh no, just once in a while is fine. Phichit and I – the person that you met earlier – tend to go overboard with this ‘treat yo’self’ thing when we go out to eat. But since the play requires a lot of focus and preparation, we haven’t been able to actually explore the city yet to find diners and restaurants like this. So this would be the first time in… a month? I guess? That I eat unhealthy food,” Yuuri explains and Victor hums, eyes fixed on Yuuri’s face as he fondly addresses his best friend.  

“You two seem really close,” Victor says nonchalant but there’s an edge to his voice Yuuri can’t quite catch. “We have known each other since College; it’s really nice that we got hired by the same theater group, though it cost him his degree. Phichit is four years my junior, I was already a graduating student when we met. My final performance in college, I was tasked to play as Bert from the musical ‘Mary Poppins’ and even though Phichit is just a freshman back then, he managed to get the role of Michael; we got noticed by the scouts of the group and the rest is history,” Yuuri is smiling all throughout his story and Victor is fascinated.

After a moment’s realization, Victor bursts out into a laugh. Yuuri raises his eyebrow at the sight of his companion; Victor eventually calms down but his smile does not wane and there’s still the mirth in his eyes “I just imagined you speaking and singing in a cockney accent and I lost it, I’m sorry,” Victor giggles and it garners a few amused huffs from Yuuri, “I didn’t know how I pulled it off. I don’t even know how I got that role when my audition was a total disaster!” Yuuri exclaims with his arms in the air and the look of utter disbelief on his face; now it is Victor’s turn to raise an eyebrow at Yuuri.

“I was supposed to just audition for Robertson Ay’s character since I’m busy with the graduation process and the like; I actually sang ‘Feed the Birds’ as my audition piece to make sure I make no impression as to garner myself a big role, my voice even cracked a bit, it was so humiliating. Then the results came back and I was casted for Bert. I didn’t actually talk to the people in charge on why I was Bert, but they said they trusted me and off I went,” Yuuri explains with a fond wistful smile on his face. “Are you really sure about that?” The Russian inquires with a raise of his brow. Yuuri blinks at Victor and turns his attention to the ceiling, remembering the reason why he was casted with a big role in the first place. “I might… I might have danced to the choreography for ‘Step in Time’?” Yuuri answers unsure and it gets a laugh out of Victor, “And now here you are,” he adds, voice low, almost a whisper filled with awe and Yuuri can’t help but smile bigger “And now here I am,” he agrees.

They are silent once again, Victor takes the time to take a huge sip of his caramel milkshake and it does not go unnoticed that Yuuri is currently openly staring at him. Once done with his drink, Victor stares back at Yuuri and tilts his head to the side as if to inquire. “I’m just wondering if you’re ever going to ask if the play was successful with me as a lead…” Yuuri says softly, never breaking eye contact with the Russian. There’s a look on Victor’s face Yuuri can’t quite decipher but it does not cause him any ill feelings, just that he’s bracing himself for what Victor might have to say.

“I know for sure that those who chose you did the right thing and that a play with you in it would always be successful,” Victor smoothly replies and Yuuri can feel his cheeks warming up from the declaration.

“You didn’t know that…” he whispers meekly as he turns his attention to his now empty glass of chocolate milkshake. “I don’t, but tonight’s performance is enough proof that you can do it,” Victor says honestly as he takes one of Yuuri’s hands on the table in his. The Japanese man faces Victor almost immediately at the gesture, red in the face and mouth gaping just a bit “I… um… thank you…” Yuuri replies and he feels Victor squeeze his hand before letting go.

“You already deserve to have a title role, Yuuri! You were dazzling on that stage tonight I didn’t even glance at Aurora when you’re on stage with her!” Victor chips, his voice almost too loud to be considered civil and poor Yuuri jumps in his seat. The Japanese man snorts before shaking his head in exasperation.

“If JJ heard what you said, he’ll freak,” Yuuri chuckles, “Isabella, the actress for Aurora, is actually JJ’s fiancée. Rehearsals are quite awful,” He adds with little remorse and Victor chuckles over the tall glass of his milkshake. “That was quite honest of you, Yuuri,” Victor chides and the actor only shrugs causing the both of them to enter almost endless fits of giggles and snorts.

“Though there is no denying that the both of them are equally good in all aspects of theater, I’ll give them that,” Yuuri supplies as he’s going down from his laughter high. He hears Victor hums across from him and sees that the Russian is sipping the last of his milkshake and seems to be in thought.

“I bet you’re better at singing than this RJ,” Victor says thoughtlessly. “His name is JJ,” Yuuri helpfully corrects the mistake, his voice fond, “But you still haven’t even seen him on stage, how would you know?” Yuuri prods Victor and the Russian hums, slurping some more air from the straw.

 “I just know, is all,”

“Do you have some proof then?”

“I do.”

Yuuri widens his eyes in shock and wonder, “You do?” Yuuri asks, unbelieving and Victor only nods. It takes a moment for Victor to fish out his phone from his pocket, he finds that his hand starts being clammy all of a sudden and the thought hits him that _maybe_ outing himself like this would not be a good idea.

But Victor is a man of his words and in his haste to show Yuuri the proof, he accidentally fumbles with his phone. He quickly adjusts his grip, make sure it’s firm, before presenting Yuuri his phone. The actor quirks a brow and his lips are pursed, he probably has an inkling as to why Victor presents him his phone.

“You didn’t,” Yuuri deadpans, but looking at the sheepish look on Victor’s face confirms his guess and Yuuri can’t help but let out a resigned sigh.

“That’s illegal you know?” the Japanese man warns and Victor shrugs, “Are you going to snuff me out?” Victor asks and Yuuri shakes his head, his face dons a small smile. It eases Victor’s worries for a moment before Yuuri speaks again, “Why did you do it though?” it was an honest question that was relatively easy enough for Victor to answer.

“I like your voice and I want to hear it again and again. When I heard you sing during opening night, I was almost disappointed in myself that I can’t get a replay of you singing and well,” Victor gestures to his phone lying face down, “that’s the second best thing I can think of, I guess?” Victor finishes as he slumps in his seat.

It was silent again, Victor waiting for Yuuri’s reaction and Yuuri is just staring at the phone. Victor guesses that Yuuri might want for him to delete the recording and if asked right now by the actor, Victor would do just that. He is about to open his mouth to apologize for his lack of etiquette for theater but Yuuri beats him to it, “Well… well I certainly won’t be singing Prince Philip’s parts in… in the… in the official soundtrack that will be released sometime next month so… uhh… I guess… I guess it’s okay?” as he continues to speak, Yuuri’s voice becomes smaller and unsure, his shoulders are slouching, he’s not looking Victor in the eyes.

Victor stares in wonder as he tries to figure out the person in front of him; how his mind works, how he reacts. Victor already knows that he likes Yuuri’s voice and his blushes; he already knows how to coax that amazing laugh out and cute tint of pink on that actor’s face. But the Yuuri in front of Victor now is almost new territory. Yuuri completely deviates from what Victor expected of the man and it is _thrilling._

Yuuri takes a chance in peeking at Victor and the latter feels his heart constrict and his breath cut short from the shy expression on the other’s face; big brown eyes unsure, eyebrows scrunched together, and lips purse tight.

“Are you sure I can keep it?” Victor suddenly feels his throat go dry and so he swallows what little saliva he has in his mouth. Yuuri sits up straighter, a little bit surer before nodding his head and his lips finally turn into a smile, “There… there really is no harm done… I guess… but…” Yuuri hesitates and worries his lower lip with his teeth, “Are you _sure_ you want to keep it? It’s not… it’s not really _that_ good, is it?” Victor immediately debunks Yuuri’s claim, “this is one of the most beautiful versions I’ve heard. Although I would’ve liked it more if you had more parts, but of course Aurora is the title character,” Victor assures and he can see Yuuri’s smile grow bigger, causing his eyes to crinkle just a bit and his cheeks to tint the barest shade of pink.

Victor returns his phone into his pocket and they talk some more; the both of them lost track of the time and Yuuri marvels at how kind the staffs of the diner are. They aren’t politely excused from their table not until it was nearing one am. They both apologize profusely for overstaying and to compensate, they left a hefty amount of tip.

The pair is met with the cool spring time night air when they step outside. Yuuri is bundled up nicely with a warm looking coat and a blue scarf but Victor is only wearing a trench coat in spite of the harsh winds, “Aren’t you cold, Victor?” Yuuri asks and the Russian hums, “I’m one hundred percent Russian, Yuuri, this weather now barely feels cold!” Victor says proudly; Yuuri lets out a huff of amusement at the declaration.

“Where’s the hotel you’re staying at? I’ll walk you there. It’s nearly one thirty, can’t have your friends worry about you too much,” _Can’t have Phichit hunt after my head._

“Oh it’s actually just around the corner from here. I can manage by myself,” Yuuri replies but Victor’s having none of it, “I want to spend as much time with you, you know? Let me walk you back?” It almost reminds Yuuri of a puppy with how the other man was looking at him; wide eyes with his eyebrows scrunched together and a full bottom lip pout.

Yuuri giggles and snorts, giving Victor a fond look, “Do as you wish,” and Victor fist bumps the air before they start walking, Yuuri leading the way. They do not talk much this time but the silence is peaceful and easy and if the both of them lean towards each other a little bit more, causing their shoulders to bump against one another and for their fingers to brush over each other’s knuckles, then they do not say anything about it, the soft smiles on their faces say enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penny for your thoughts? 
> 
> I would love to hear your opinions about this :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)


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